


Te o Torriatte

by admiralandrea



Series: Sheer Heart Attack [2]
Category: NCIS: Los Angeles
Genre: Bondage, Chastity Device, Community: trope_bingo, Dom/sub, M/M, Spanking, Tentacles, Whipping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-01
Updated: 2018-10-01
Packaged: 2019-07-23 06:43:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 26,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16153736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/admiralandrea/pseuds/admiralandrea
Summary: What happens when a case from Callen's past comes back to haunt him.





	Te o Torriatte

**Author's Note:**

> This is a sequel to In the Lap of the Gods and references events in that fic, hence the warnings for underage and non-con. Also contains Sam/Callen in a D/s relationship. Contains references to the episodes "Rage" (S6E20) and "The Watchers" (S3E12). Shunga is a real thing (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shunga ) Written for the "Tentacle porn" square on my Trope Bingo card.

It was a routine Tuesday morning at the NCIS Office of Special Projects. Eric had whistled the team upstairs for a briefing, which he and Nell were delivering, in relation to an arms dealing case. There were possible gang ties, though no-one was sure yet which gangs might be involved.

They had a dead Lieutenant and at least two other Navy personnel were probably involved as well. The team was discussing the best way forward, when Nell announced she had received new intel.

“Coming up on the plasma,” she said, keying her tablet. “LAPD has just forwarded us some information on the gang they think is involved. It looks like the Yakuza are behind this operation. The main person of interest is someone called Taro Noguchi, son of a Kazuo Noguchi, who apparently died in 1986, when Taro was just two years old.”

As Nell flipped pictures onto the big screen at the front of the Ops centre, the rest of the team looked on. At first, no-one noticed Callen’s reaction to the names Nell had given them. Then Sam glanced at his partner and was shocked to see he had gone pale beneath his tan.

“G?” he asked, causing the others to turn and look at the Lead Agent.

Callen didn’t say anything, just clenched his jaw and fists, then turned and walked out of the room.

“G!”

“Callen!”

Sam’s and Kensi’s voices mixed in consternation and surprise, as Callen left. Sam reacted quicker and headed to the door after his partner. Callen was already at the bottom of the stairs and striding purposefully past the bullpen and Hetty’s office, heading out the door to the motor pool.

Sam hurried down the stairs after him, but was stopped by Hetty calling his name.

“Mr Hanna, what is going on?” she asked, surprised to see Callen leave at high speed, with his partner hot on his heels.

“Hetty,” Sam said, stopping at the entrance to her domain. “I don’t know what’s wrong. Nell was briefing us on some new intel in relation to the case, he got awful pale, then just turned and walked out.”

Hetty tapped at her laptop. “New intel?” she asked.

“On possible Yakuza involvement in the arms dealing case and a person of interest called Noguchi,” Sam told her.

On hearing the name, Hetty looked shocked in much the same way that Callen just had and Sam stepped forward, concerned about what the hell was going on.

“Hetty?” he half-asked, half-warned, needing answers.

She looked up after a moment. “Leave Mr Callen to me,” Hetty said. “You and the rest of the team need to carry on with this case.”  
“You’re not going to give me an explanation?” Sam asked, a little hurt, but not really surprised. Hetty could be parsimonious with information when she wanted to be, which was quite often.

“I need to find Mr Callen and speak to him first,” was all Hetty told him. “Now please, I need you to take the lead on this with the team until matters are resolved.”

Sam sighed. “Okay,” he agreed. “But please don’t take too long sorting things out with G.”

“I’ll try not to, Mr Hanna,” Hetty said, giving him a faint smile, then she bent to her laptop.

Sam knew a dismissal when he saw it, so turned to head back up to Ops. He had a lot of questions, but it looked like he needed to be patient about getting answers.

*

Back in Ops, Sam just shook his head at the questioning looks he got from the rest of the team.

“Let’s head over to the crime scene,” he said to Kensi and Deeks.

“Where’s Callen?” Deeks asked as they headed downstairs.

“Otherwise engaged,” Sam said. He wasn’t going to say anything else, when he didn’t have any more idea what was going on than either Deeks or Kensi did.

At the bottom of the stairs, Kensi paused. “One car or two?” she asked.

“Separate cars,” Sam said, as Deeks said, “Ooh, can I ride with Sam?”

“Separate cars it is,” Kensi said, grabbing Deeks by the arm and dragging him after her. 

Sam ignored them to return to Hetty. “Do you want me to take Nell?” he asked.

Hetty looked up at him. “Do you think you need the extra back up in the field?” she asked in reply.

Sam shook his head. “Not while we’re just checking out a crime scene,” he said.

“Very well then, if you need her later, then Miss Jones will be available to you,” Hetty said. “In the meantime, should Mr Callen be in touch, please let me know before you go rushing to join him.”

“Do you expect him to be in touch?” Sam asked.

“Expect no, hope yes,” Hetty told him. “We both know he still has his lone wolf tendencies, but I also know how much he has come to rely on your support and I am hoping in this case, he will remember that sooner rather than later.”

“Okay then,” Sam said. “I better get going to the crime scene.”

Hetty nodded agreement and Sam turned to head out to his car. He hoped Callen did get in touch soon. Sam didn’t like his partner out there on his own, when something major was clearly bothering him.

*

The crime scene was fairly routine, if you ignored the fact that Sam kept turning to his partner to make an observation or expecting some remark, only to be brought up short each time by his absence. It made Sam a bit snappy, though he was trying not to let it show. But when he bit at the latest glib comment from Deeks, Kensi took her partner’s arm and steered him away, leaving Sam to work in unaccustomed silence.

When they were done, Kensi got on the phone to update Eric, so Sam took the opportunity to pull out his own phone. There were no messages from his partner, which didn’t really surprise Sam. He decided to call Nell, to see what she could tell him.

“Hi Sam,” she said, sounding as bubbly as ever. 

“Nell,” he replied, taking a deep breath to make sure he didn’t snap at her. No way did Nell deserve his short temper. “Any update on my partner?”

“We found the car he left in,” Nell told him. “The GPS led us right to it, but it was parked outside a Metro Rail station, so it doesn’t get us very far.”

Sam grunted agreement. Access to the Metro Rail meant Callen could go anywhere in L.A. if he wanted to. “I take it you’ve had no luck with his phone?” Sam asked next.

“Of course,” Nell agreed. “There’s no indication he wiped and ditched it, but it’s probably turned off and the battery removed. Eric tried to access it remotely, without any luck. He also offered to scrub through the surveillance footage from Metro, to identify what train Callen took, but Granger nixed that idea. He said we had to concentrate on the case.”

“I understand,” Sam said. 

While his partner going off grid was hardly normal, particularly during a case, there was no indication he was in danger at present, so Granger’s insistence they stick to the task wasn’t unexpected. 

“What’s Hetty saying?” Sam asked.

There was a pause before Nell spoke again. “I haven’t seen her since this morning,” she eventually said. “I think she’s gone out, but I don’t know where. Granger doesn’t seem concerned though.”

Sam guessed that meant Granger knew where Hetty had gone and what she was up to. It was probably related to his partner, but clearly neither of them were sharing. “Alright, thanks Nell,” Sam finally said. “I better get back to the case.”

“Sure Sam, see you later,” Nell agreed and clicked off the line.

Sam was about to slip his phone back in his pocket when it buzzed with an incoming text. The sender wasn’t a name, just a number, but Sam swiped the text open anyway. It was a single word, “Idlewild”. 

Recognizing the code word, Sam activated the GPS tracker on his phone and entered the number into the app. Seconds later, a blue icon was blinking away, showing the location of the phone. It was in downtown L.A. somewhere. 

Looking up, Sam saw Kensi and Deeks standing by the Caddy, chatting. He quickly strode over to join them.

“Everything okay?” Kensi asked, as he got close enough to speak.

“Fine,” Sam nodded. He held up his phone. “Just got a lead, need to go check it out. You two head back to the office, follow up from there.”

Deeks looked like he wanted to question Sam’s direction, but Kensi nodded agreement. “We’ll see you later then,” she said, rounding the car to get in the driver’s seat.

Sam held Deeks’ gaze for a minute, until the other man ducked his head. “Later then,” he said and slid into the passenger seat.

Sam stood back and watched them leave, not heading for his own car until he was sure that they were gone and not going to try and follow him. Once behind the wheel of his Challenger, Sam fired off a quick text to Hetty. He was sure she already knew what the situation was, but he’d promised to keep her updated and he was a man of his word.

“Message from G, en route to meet him, more later. Sam.”

Text sent, Sam brought up the GPS again. The blue icon was still in the same place, so he activated the voice instructions and headed out.

*

The directions led Sam through the traffic until he was parking as close as he could get to where the phone icon was still blinking away. Sam hadn’t heard anything back from Hetty, but he wasn’t too surprised by that. 

Once he was walking, Sam found he was heading towards a diner. He put his phone away as he stepped inside, spotting his partner sat on a stool at the counter which ran along the windows. He was nursing a cup of what Sam guessed was coffee, with an empty plate alongside. Sam was sure that Callen was aware of his presence, but he gave no indication of it, instead keeping his gaze fixed through the window at what Sam could see was a nail bar.

“Expecting trouble from the mani-pedi set?” Sam asked lightly as he sat on the stool next to his partner.

Callen didn’t even look round as he replied. “Well, we know these places are often a front for human trafficking.”

Sam grunted as the waitress brought him a mug of coffee. “Anything to eat?” she asked cheerfully, as she set the mug down next to him.

“The coffee’s fine, thank you,” Sam told her.

“Sure, hon,” she agreed, pouring more coffee for Callen as she picked up the empty plate from the counter.

Sam gave her a nod, watching her walk away, before turning back to his partner. “So what’s going on G?” he asked.

Because he was watching closely, Sam could see the momentary tightening of his partner’s expression, before he relaxed again. 

“I just wanted some pie and coffee,” Callen told him, picking up his mug and taking a sip.

“In the middle of a case?” Sam asked, mildly sarcastic.

Callen shrugged. “What can I say, it’s really good pie.”

Sam snorted, before taking a mouthful of his own coffee. “Sure G,” was all he said.

Callen heaved a sigh, then quickly drained his coffee, before pulling out his wallet and taking out some money.

“Let’s do this somewhere else,” he said, standing up and waiting for Sam.

“Sure,” Sam agreed, quickly drinking the rest of his mug as well.

Callen led the way out the door, pausing on the pavement to stare at the nail bar once more. 

“Car’s this way,” Sam told him, turning in the right direction. Callen grunted and fell into step beside him, as they headed down the street.

*

Once they were in the car, Sam turned to his partner. “Where to G?” he asked.

Callen shrugged, not looking at Sam. “Dunno,” he said.

“Well, we can go rustic or go luxury,” Sam suggested.

That made Callen turn his head towards Sam and raise a questioning eyebrow. Sam held in a sigh. Sometimes, dealing with his partner was like herding cats. 

“Lady Jayne’s or the cabin?” Sam asked.

“Cabin,” Callen said. “I need to talk, but somewhere quiet is better.”  
“Alright then,” Sam said, starting the car. “Cabin it is. You gonna text Hetty or shall I?”

“She already knows not to expect us back today,” Callen told him.

Sam paused as he was about to pull out from his parking spot, turning to stare at his partner.

“You spoke to her?” Sam asked, trying not to sound hurt.

He got that infuriating shrug from Callen again. “I left a voicemail,” he replied. “I told her we had some things to sort out and we’d probably be in tomorrow.”

“Probably?” Sam asked, as this time he got the car moving.

“Not sure how this is going to go,” Callen told him. 

Callen had his head turned away again, but Sam could see part of his face in his wing mirror and it was the kind of blank that meant Callen was hiding strong emotions, which went with the monotone way he’d been speaking, barely volunteering any sort of emotion. Sam wondered what the hell sort of surprise from his partner’s past he could expect to hear this time.

Sam knew he wouldn’t hear anything more from Callen until they got to the cabin, so he reached out to the car radio, needing something to break the silence of their journey.

A few minutes later, when Sam glanced over at a stop light, he saw that Callen had his eyes closed. He guessed his partner was sleeping and was glad. Even though Callen’s sleep habits had improved in the years they’d been together, as he learned to trust Sam and relax around him, Callen still didn’t sleep much compared to other people.

*

The drive to the cabin was long, but uneventful, until eventually, Sam was stopping at the grocery store where they usually stocked up on essentials when they stayed there. Callen still had his eyes closed, so Sam didn’t disturb him, heading inside. He knew Callen’s preferences well enough and if his partner did wake up, he’d join Sam if he felt like it.

Sam greeted Mrs Harris, the store owner who was manning the register when he got inside. She smiled and waved, before going back to the customer she was serving. 

Sam was halfway round the store, when he heard the bell above the door tinkle. He glanced up automatically to see who it was and saw Callen walking towards him.

“You left me asleep in the car,” Callen said, once he was close enough to Sam to speak at a normal volume.

“Well you looked so peaceful, I didn’t want to disturb you,” Sam told him. “Let’s face it, you need the beauty sleep.” 

Callen glared half-heartedly at the smirk Sam gave him as he made the remark. “Just don’t forget my Froot Loops,” was all he said, as he walked away, in the direction of the beer.

“As if you’d let me,” Sam muttered to himself, as he added the box to the shopping basket he held.

When he caught up with his partner a couple of aisles later, Sam found Callen holding a couple of six packs and a carton of milk, while he spoke to the local Sheriff.

“Mr Wainwright, good to see you,” the Sheriff said, when he looked up and saw Sam’s approach.

“You too Sheriff Bland,” Sam replied, reaching out to shake hands as he did so.

“Your partner here was telling me you’re only up for the night,” the Sheriff said.

Sam nodded. “That’s right, just a quick getaway to check up on things,” he agreed.

“I guess that financial stuff keeps you boys busy,” the Sheriff commented.

Callen smiled at him. “It sure does,” he agreed, the Southern drawl his alias used coloring his reply.

“Well, I should get on, let you finish your shopping, or it’ll be time to go home before you get to your cabin,” the Sheriff concluded, shaking hands with Sam again. “Enjoy your stay.”

“Thanks Sheriff,” Sam said and Callen nodded agreement, hands too full to allow a handshake.

The Sheriff nodded back, then turned and walked away. They both watched him leave, sending a final word to Mrs Harris up front as he went out the door.

“We got everything or you planning on buying out the store?” Callen asked, eyeing his partner’s full basket.

“I’m done,” Sam told him. “Not like you were helping anyway.”

“I got the necessities,” Callen told him, lifting up the items he held.

Sam turned to head for the register. “Necessities, right,” he said sarcastically. “We’re not going to drink that much beer in one night, G, and you know it.”

“Maybe not, but it’ll be here for next time,” Callen pointed out as he put the items on the counter.

Sam just shook his head, as he unloaded the contents of the basket on the counter. Mrs Harris was chuckling as she watched their byplay.

“You boys sure are a sight for sore eyes,” she commented, as she started ringing items up on the cash register.

“Not as much as you are, Mrs Harris,” Callen told her, smiling at the elderly lady.

“Oh pish, Mr Carroll,” she said, dismissing his comment with a gesture.

Sam ignored his partner’s antics, bagging the groceries as Mrs Harris scanned them. It only took a few minutes, then he was paying and they were out the door, calling goodbye to Mrs Harris as they went.

Once the groceries in the trunk of the Challenger, they were buckled up and on the road again. They’d be at the cabin within the hour and then Sam would start unpicking his partner’s latest issues from his past.

*

As they drove the last part of the route to the cabin, Callen was getting more and more twitchy, until finally Sam had to speak.

“What’s going on G?” he asked, reaching out to squeeze at his partner’s leg. 

Callen jiggled his leg up and down, but Sam just squeezed more tightly. “G!” he said. “Talk to me, please.”

Callen gave a loud sigh, but slumped back into his seat, leg stilling as he almost froze in place. “Sorry,” he apologized dejectedly.

Sam squeezed once more before letting go to change gear. “Don’t apologize, just explain,” Sam told him.

Callen shrugged, looking anywhere but at his partner. “Nervous,” he finally muttered.

Sam gave a quick glance across, but concentrated on making the turn on to the road which led to their cabin.

“Why are you nervous about talking to me?” he asked finally, when they were bumping down the track. 

“Because what I have to tell you is creepy and awful,” Callen eventually said, as they reached the cabin.

Sam turned the car and parked, switching off the engine. Neither of them made a move to get out of the car, engine ticking as it cooled, the only noise apart from the sounds of nature.

“Do you need me to take you down?” Sam finally asked, when the silence had gotten heavy between them and it was obvious Callen couldn’t ask.

Callen suddenly shoved his door open and climbed out of the car. He strode across to the tree line, shoulders hunched and Sam sighed. It was like trying to tap dance in a mine field some days when he was dealing with his partner, he decided. Sam got out of the car as well, but didn’t follow Callen, deciding a little space was probably in order. Instead, he opened the trunk and picked up some of the bags of groceries, before heading to the cabin.

A quick look around reassured Sam that nothing had been disturbed since they had last made it out here, a few months ago. He balanced the grocery bags while he unlocked the door, then headed inside.

As he started to unpack the stuff that needed to go in the refrigerator, Sam heard the sound of his partner’s boots on the porch and gave a small sigh of relief that Callen was apparently going to try and deal with whatever was going on.

Sam looked up as Callen set the remaining bags on the kitchen table. “I’m sorry, you’re right,” Callen told him sheepishly. “I need to go down hard for this, or I won’t be able to tell you.”

“You know you don’t have to share if you don’t want to,” Sam told him gently, taking care to keep his distance from Callen, until he was sure he would be welcomed.

Callen gave a wry smirk. “I have to share,” he said simply. “If I don’t, I might as well quit now and leave L.A. for good.”

Sam’s eyes widened at that. “As long as you’re sure,” he said.

Callen nodded. “I’m sure.”

“In that case then, go into the bedroom and strip, wait for me there. I’ll be in when I’ve put the rest of this away.”

Callen gave a sharp nod at the order and turned for the bedroom. Sam watched him for a second, then turned back to the groceries. He didn’t want to leave Callen waiting too long, because that would just let his partner’s busy brain go into overdrive and that wasn’t what he needed right now.

When Sam reached the bedroom, Callen was kneeling next to the bed, head down and with his hands clasped behind his back. Sam stood in the doorway for a few seconds, just watching his partner. Callen gave no indication he knew Sam was there, even though he had to have heard Sam’s approach and that was a clear sign that he was deeply in his head.

Sam carefully didn’t sigh, knowing that it would give his partner the wrong idea. Clearly whatever was going on here was big and likely messy too. That meant Sam had one realistic option if he was going to get through to Callen and get him to open up. It also meant they might not make it back to work tomorrow.

Sam shelved that thought for now. He needed to deal with what was in front of him first. He crossed the room to sit on the bed.

“Come here,” he told Callen, as he sat down. 

Callen looked up at Sam, as he indicated the spot in front of where he was sitting. He had a distant look in his eyes, which slowly cleared as he realized where he was again. Sam waited patiently, knowing what was happening and that he wasn’t being disobeyed deliberately. 

Callen slowly crawled forward to settle in between Sam’s legs, this time resting his hands on his thighs as he waited for the next instruction. Sam reached out and grasped Callen’s chin, raising his head so he could look his partner in the eyes.

“You need to go down hard,” he said. “That means a lot of pain for you and makes me reluctant to take you back to work tomorrow.”

Callen swallowed hard, licking his lips as he thought about Sam’s words. Sam let go of his chin, so Callen could speak.

“I can deal with the pain,” he told Sam. “I need to tell you this, but I also need to go back and deal with this case.”

Sam frowned. He knew that Callen had compartmentalization skills that would put anyone else to shame, but he didn’t know that that extended to ignoring physical pain. 

“It’ll mean you being extra cautious in the field,” Sam pointed out. “If you get injured and need medical attention, you won’t want the attention that comes with being found marked like that. It’s not something you can explain away.”

“I can do it Sam, I promise,” Callen said earnestly. “I will do whatever you want when we get back, but I have to be there and I can’t stay out of the field on this one.”

Sam did sigh then. He needed to find out what this was all about before he could make a proper judgement call, but to do that, he had to use pain to bring Callen down enough to talk, leaving him with a catch-22 situation.

“Alright,” he finally said. “I’m going to trust you on this, but you will be completely honest with me about this situation and if you do go into the field for this case, I will be there the whole time. There will be no undercover for you on this, understand?”

Callen nodded, a look of relief on his face at Sam’s acquiescence. “I understand Sam and thank you.”

“Let’s go next door then,” Sam said, standing up. 

Callen rose to his feet as well at Sam’s gesture and followed his partner into their play room. They had owned the cabin for a few years, in the name of a shell company and with different aliases to those they used now when they visited. It meant that they had been able to remodel it to their needs and furnish it the way they wanted.

All of which meant that the play room was fitted out with a variety of equipment, most of which Sam had made himself. A large, wooden St Andrews Cross dominated the centre of the room, and that was where Sam led Callen now. He fastened padded cuffs around his partner’s wrists and ankles, before adding straps at Callen’s waist and across his forehead. By the time he was done, Callen had very little leeway to move.

Sam could see Callen’s body relaxing into the restraints, his eyes sliding closed and his breathing slowing down. It pleased him to see that Callen was already descending into subspace, ready for whatever Sam did to him.

When he was satisfied with everything, Sam crossed the room to a large cupboard on one wall, which he had also built. It contained a wide variety of toys and implements, each neatly arranged on the shelves inside. Sam chose a leather flogger and a switch, taking both over to a table set off to the side of the cross. 

He set both implements down and opened up the mini fridge that was also on the table. It contained a six pack of water bottles and Sam took one out, then closed the fridge again. His partner would need the water later, but it was better at room temperature than chilled for what Sam had in mind.

Satisfied with his preparations, Sam picked up the flogger and shook it out. He ran his fingers through the strands, checking for flaws, then swung it a few times, to warm himself up. When he was ready, Sam positioned himself behind Callen and raised his arm.

“Ready G,” he said. 

“Yes Sam,” his partner replied. 

With no more warning than that, Sam laid down the first stroke, hitting the middle of Callen’s back. It wasn’t full force, Sam would work up to that, but it still left a mark on Callen’s pale skin and Sam felt his own headspace settle as he began the task of bringing his partner down.

Sam soon fell into a rhythm, gradually building up the intensity of his strokes. He had a lot of experience with not just Callen, but previous partners, so it was easy for him to position the strikes of the flogger to cover Callen’s back and create the greatest sensation. 

Callen responded beautifully. At first, he was silent, but as Sam started to hit harder, Callen started to make noise. Just grunts to start with, but then he began to yell and Sam knew then that he was getting through to Callen. He started to vary the strength of his blows, but also to repeat strokes in the same area, for greater effect.

When Callen began to cry, heaving breaths making his body shake, Sam tapered off quickly, but carefully, until he stopped. Crossing quickly to the table, Sam dropped the flogger and picked up a towel and bottle of water instead. He went back to Callen and stood in front of him.

Callen was still shaking, and although he was no longer sobbing, tears still streamed down his face. Sam opened the bottle of water and poured some on to the towel. He used it wipe Callen’s face clean, then checked his pulse. It was still faster than normal, but not too extreme. Sam cupped Callen’s face and tilted his chin, so he could see his eyes.

“You with me sweetheart?” he asked gently.

Callen swallowed hard and managed a slight nod. “Yeah,” he murmured.

“Good,” Sam said. 

He held up the water bottle and tipped it so that Callen could drink some. Water dripped down Callen’s chin, but he didn’t seem bothered, swallowing several mouthfuls before pulling back.

Sam wiped his face with the damp towel again, pleased to see that Callen had stopped crying now, and his eyes looked clearer.

“Do you need more?” he asked. He didn’t think so, but it wasn’t Sam’s decision to make.

Callen managed a shake of the head. “Just hold me, please?” he asked.

“Of course, sweetheart,” Sam said. 

He put aside the towel and bottle of water, then quickly undid all the restraints, before guiding Callen back away from the cross. Sam’s arm went around Callen’s waist to support him and they moved back into the bedroom. Sam led the way to the bed and they were soon settled on their sides, Sam’s arm still around Callen as they spooned together and entwined their legs.

“I’m ready to talk now,” Callen said softly, as he took Sam’s hand in his and twined their fingers together on his stomach.

Sam squeezed Callen’s hands. “Alright,” he said.

“You know I was with the Rostoffs when I was fourteen,” Callen started. 

“Yeah,” Sam agreed. “You stayed three months. But you didn’t say why you left. Seemed like you really liked it there.”

“I did,” Callen said. “But Mr Rostoff got sick and Mrs Rostoff had enough to do, looking after him and Alina, so I felt she didn’t need to be dealing with me as well. I tried to help out at first, even offered to look after Alina, so Mrs Rostoff could work if she needed to. She said that wasn’t necessary, they had savings and medical insurance. But I just felt like I wasn’t contributing and I was at an age where I was always hungry, and I went through a growth spurt. I thought I was more of a burden than a help, so I ran away.”

Callen paused, voice betraying his emotions. Sam tightened his grip on his partner’s body, offering silent reassurance. After a minute, Callen continued.

“It was the first time I lived on the streets for a time,” he said. “It wasn’t much fun, the weather was awful and I couldn’t relax for a second. I didn’t eat or sleep at all and ended up getting sick. It was almost a relief when it got so bad, I passed out and someone took me to an emergency room. Child Services picked me up and I went to a group home when I got out of the hospital.”

Callen paused again, so Sam reached over to the nightstand for a bottle of water and encouraged him to take a few mouthfuls.

“Thanks,” Callen said when he was done. “I turned fifteen and went to another family, who specialized in troubled teens.” He paused again, tensing all over, as the memories rose up.

“You don’t have to carry on,” Sam told him, squeezing his partner again for reassurance.

“No, I need to get this out,” Callen said. He took a deep breath and carried on. “They had one of these weird things going on, like a cult or something. They home schooled all the kids they fostered and there were quite a lot. But we were locked up most of the time and made to chant and stuff.”

Sam could feel Callen trembling as he spoke and his voice was shaking, Sam couldn’t do anything more than keep a tight hold of him, trying to offer support through his presence.

“One day,” Callen coughed. “One day, they left a door ajar and I ran. None of the others would come with me. They’d all been there longer and were brainwashed I guess. Anyway, I robbed a storage locker and got caught. They sent me to Juvie. That was as bad as you can imagine, so after three weeks there, I ran away again. Crashed a car into a light pole, the cops were right there, threatening to have me tried as an adult. But then fate intervened.”

Callen paused again. 

“Fate?” Sam asked, when the silence continued for a while. He could feel Callen’s body relax a little in his hold.

“Yeah,” Callen said and he sounded lighter. “It was Hetty.”

Sam blinked in surprise. “Hetty?” he asked.

Callen laughed. “Yeah, Hetty. Dressed all in black, including heels, standing there in front of me, offering me a place. I couldn’t believe it. Thought I’d hit my head in the crash and was dreaming or hallucinating. I thought she was sending me back to Social Services but instead she wanted me to come live with her.”

“And you did?” Sam asked.

“I did,” Callen confirmed. “She wasn’t there for long, before work took her away, but her staff were great and I was studying and no-one minded how much I ate, or what I wore or anything like that. I even had my own suite of rooms in her house.”

Callen fell silent again and Sam guessed he was remembering happier times. 

“Something happened, though,” Callen eventually resumed his story. “When Hetty came back, she asked for my help.”

“Doing what?” Sam asked, wondering what sort of help Callen could offer Hetty.

“I don’t know whether she was actually working for the CIA at that point, but looking back now, that makes the most sense,” Callen explained. “She was after a Japanese businessman who was suspected of illegal activity. He seemed to like teenage boys of a certain type, because several had disappeared near this restaurant he was connected to.”

“And you fit the type,” Sam interrupted, trying to reign in the rush of anger he felt. He knew Hetty could be manipulative at times, but taking in Callen like that as a teenager, giving him a taste of the good life, but then turning around and using him as bait seemed well past the limit of acceptable behavior.

“I guess you can figure out what happened,” Callen said, sounding resigned. 

“She used you as bait, when you were a teenager,” Sam said, knowing his attempt to control his anger was failing.

“It was my choice,” Callen insisted.

Sam snorted at that. “Not sure I agree with you G,” he told his partner.

Callen pulled away and turned over so he was facing Sam. “Can we not argue about this, please? It was a long time ago.”

“Not long enough, because it’s clearly affecting you now,” Sam pointed out.

“Only because this case brought back the memories,” Callen told him. “I don’t have to tell you the rest, Sam, if it bothers you that much.”

Sam shook his head. “It’s precisely because it bothers me this much, that you have to tell me, G,” he said.

“Alright,” Callen said. He shifted to a sitting position, pushing a pillow behind his back as he did so. Sam didn’t like him creating distance between them, but respected his partner’s choice and moved so that he was sat next to him, but not quite touching.

“So I went back onto the streets,” Callen explained, “And within a few days, this girl approached me. Before I knew it, I was in the restaurant. I was kept there for three days altogether, but it seemed longer. This guy, he was really weird. He liked eating his food off the naked bodies of teenaged boys.”

“What?” Sam had heard and seen some weird shit in his time both as a SEAL and as an NCIS agent, but that was definitely a first.

Callen nodded, but didn’t look at Sam, instead grabbing a pillow and holding it in his lap, almost curling round it.

“That happened the first night I was there. Two days later, when it happened again, there was a girl there as well. Noguchi picked her because she was more to the taste of the man he was doing business with. The meal had finished, but they were still talking and men stormed the room we were in. They were part of the alphabet soup, but I don’t know which agency specifically and Granger was one of them.”

“Owen Granger?” Sam asked, shocked again. His partner had never hinted at knowing the Assistant Director before he turned up at the boat shed the first time.

“Yeah, both he and Hetty were there for the clean up. Noguchi and his associate went for guns and got shot by the agents leading the raid. I spent a night in hospital, then most of a day being grilled by FBI agents, before it was finally over. Hetty never really told me what happened after that, but I guess the deaths meant the case got closed.”

Sam was stunned. This was not what he had been expecting to hear from his partner at all. It did explain some of Callen’s reaction at the briefing, but Sam felt there was more to it than what Callen had told him so far.

“And the rest of it?” Sam asked.

“Rest of what?” Callen asked warily.

Sam turned sideways to look at him. “There’s definitely something you’re holding back, G,” Sam told him. “You know I know you well enough to tell when you’re not being completely honest with me.”

Callen heaved a sigh and dropped the pillow aside. He got up from the bed, suddenly restless.

“Can’t we leave it, Sam?” he asked, as he paced over to the window which overlooked the woods outside their cabin.

Sam slid from the bed and went to stand beside him. “No, I don’t think we can G,” he told his partner. 

Callen leaned his forehead against the window, though Sam didn’t think he was really looking at the trees outside. Sam waited patiently, knowing his partner needed to tell him, but also knowing he needed to come to the decision himself.

Eventually, Callen turned away from the window and went to sit in one of the armchairs in the corner of the room. Sam kept his distance for the moment, watching carefully. Callen curled up, wrapping his arms around his legs, in a clear sign he wasn’t comfortable.

Finally, he began to speak in a soft voice. “That second night,” he began. “After the meal was over, Noguchi and the other guy weren’t in a rush to leave, just like the first time. Instead, they sat there chatting and drinking for what seemed like forever. I’d been given cocaine mixed in with some alcohol before the evening started and it made everything weird.”

When he stopped speaking, Sam crossed over to the chair. Without giving Callen a chance to protest, Sam scooped him up and sat in the chair, holding Callen in his lap.

“Sam!” Callen protested, starting to struggle.

Sam tightened his grip. “Don’t fight me G,” Sam warned him. 

Callen made a frustrated noise, but stopped struggling, slumping back against Sam’s chest. Sam wrapped his arms around Callen, trying to give him that sense of security by allowing him to feel surrounded by Sam’s warmth.

“Finish it G,” Sam said softly. “You’ll feel better once you do.”

“He touched me up,” Callen said harshly. “Is that what you wanted to hear? He started to feel me up, but the raid stopped it before it could go too far.”

Sam had been expecting to hear something similar, so he wasn’t really surprised. It still made him feel sick though. 

“I’m sorry you went through that G,” he told his partner gently. “No-one deserves to have something like that happen to them.”

Callen shrugged as much as he could where Sam held him. “It’s not like other people haven’t been through far worse,” he muttered, angry with himself and how much this was affecting him. “It was thirty years ago.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Sam told him. “It was your experience and you’re entitled to your feelings and emotions about it. I don’t suppose you’ve ever told anyone about it, have you?”

“No,” Callen agreed, subdued now. “I didn’t want to think about it.”

Sam snorted. “Why does that not surprise me?” he asked rhetorically. 

“So now what?” Callen asked.

Sam tilted his head to try and see his partner’s face. “What do you mean?” he asked, confused by the question.

“Are you going to tell Hetty?” Callen asked.

“Why would I do that?” Sam asked, taken by surprise at the question.

Callen snorted. “Isn’t that why we’re here?” he asked.

“G, you’re making no sense here,” Sam told him.

Callen took advantage of Sam having loosened his grip and before he could react, Callen had pulled free of Sam’s hold and was across the room by the window again.

“Didn’t you bring me here to get me to talk about what happened and the secrets I was keeping?” he finally asked.

Sam decided to keep his distance for the moment, seeing how easily his partner spooked. He studied Callen’s back, which was red from the flogging, bullet scars still visible from the shooting that never failed to make Sam feel sick when he remembered how close he came to losing his partner. The line of Callen’s shoulders showed tension and Sam could tell that whatever benefit there’d been from the flogging and Callen’s emotional release afterwards, had dissipated now, during their discussion of the past.

“We came here so that you could talk about why you ran out in the middle of the briefing and tell me what was bothering you,” Sam finally said, in as mild a tone as he could manage. “But as always, what you tell me is between the two of us. I don’t run back to Ops and report on our private conversations to anyone, whether that’s Hetty, Granger or Nate. I thought you knew me better than that by now.”

Callen sighed loudly and slumped against the window. “I do Sam, and I’m sorry,” he said, half-turning so Sam could see his face. “This has me all messed up inside.”

“I know G,” Sam told him gently. “It’s okay. Will you come back here please?”

Callen turned to look at him, still clearly unhappy. “Can we just lie down?” he asked.

“Of course sweetheart, whatever you need,” Sam said. He moved from the chair to the bed, settling on his side so he could see Callen.

Callen came to join him, lying so they were face to face, but shifting close enough that he could hide his face against Sam’s chest. Sam brought his free arm around Callen’s back, hugging him close and felt his partner relax at the contact.

“Try to get some sleep G,” Sam coaxed. “Deep breaths with me and you’ll relax.”

Callen didn’t say anything, but he did synchronize his breathing with Sam’s, so that they were deep breathing together. Sam rolled to his back, pulling Callen along with him, so that his partner was pressed up against Sam’s side. As Sam continued the breathing exercise, he felt Callen relax more and then his breathing change, as he fell asleep.

Pleased with the small victory, Sam hoped his partner stayed asleep for a while. It could be hit and miss, but had gradually improved over the time they’d been together. Sam closed his eyes and let his mind go, drifting off to sleep as well.

*

Sam woke to a familiar hot mouth on his cock. He moaned as the sensations of being blowed so expertly rolled through him. Looking down, Sam saw that Callen was under the sheet, so he pulled it away to get a look at his partner, enjoying the sight of Callen curled around his groin, head bobbing as he sucked busily.

Sam reached down and cupped Callen’s skull gently. Callen looked up, eyes dark and heated and Sam groaned at the sight.

“Come here,” he demanded, tugging at Callen’s shoulder.

Callen pulled off with a loud pop and eeled up the bed, so Sam pulled him on top of his body, both of them groaning as their hard cocks brushed together. Sam crushed his mouth to Callen’s, shoving his tongue into his mouth, to get his own taste. 

Callen moaned into the kiss, moving restlessly against Sam, who wrapped his arms around Callen’s body, then rolled them without ever breaking the kiss. Callen made a surprised noise as he was pressed into the bed, but went lax under Sam, not protesting his partner’s weight on his body.

Sam broke the kiss and moved to bite and suck at Callen’s neck, before continuing down to a hard nipple. Callen had his head thrown back, gripping the sheets, as he made eager noises under Sam. 

Unable to resist the temptation, Sam abandoned the nipple he’d been torturing and moved further down Callen’s body. He stopped briefly to suck on the head of his cock, making Callen shout, then shouldered his way between Callen’s thighs. 

His partner took the hint and lifted his legs, pulling them back and spreading as wide as he could. Sam hummed with approval, then gently parted Callen’s ass cheeks and licked a wide swathe over his hole. It was enough to make Callen shout again and Sam grinned to himself before doing it again. 

Sam spent several minutes on Callen’s hole, licking, sucking and nibbling at the flesh, before pressing his tongue inside. Callen was making a lot of noise above him and Sam had to grip his hips tightly to keep him still.

When he pulled back, Callen was flushed with arousal, fingers gripping the sheets tightly and cock purple and leaking. Sam’s cock was hard and aching, so he reached for the lube, unable to resist his need to fuck any longer.

It didn’t take long to slick himself up and press some lube into his partner, who was already relaxed from the rimming. Then Sam was pushing inside, grunting with approval as Callen’s hot body swallowed his cock, the tight grip of his ass driving Sam closer to the edge.

Callen lowered his legs to Sam’s shoulders, arching up and begging for more. Sam grunted in approval and gripped his hips again, then started to thrust, hard and fast. They both needed to come and Sam intended for it to be the sort of orgasm that would wipe everything else from his partner’s mind.

Callen had a tight grip on the sheets and was shoving back into Sam’s thrusts, but he let go with one hand so he could grab his own cock and start to stroke himself. 

“Yeah,” Sam said, “Do it baby, let me see you come.”

Callen moaned and started to stroke even faster, while still rising to meet Sam’s hard thrusts into him. They were both on edge now, racing to see who would fall first. And then Callen gave a loud cry and his ass tightened around Sam’s cock, while he spurted come over his belly and hand.

Sam froze for a few moments while he was coming, cock gripped tightly in his partner’s ass. Then as Callen relaxed into the bed, Sam started to move again. He was so close, it only took a few more thrusts and then he was coming with a loud grunt, squeezing Callen’s hips as his cock emptied itself in his ass.

Then Sam was collapsing forward, landing on his partner’s body, spent and exhausted from the force of his orgasm.

Callen grunted, but didn’t complain and Sam knew Callen liked feeling Sam’s weight holding him down, so he stayed where he was, allowing himself to recover from coming so hard.

“That was...” Callen started dreamily, trailing off before finishing his sentence.

“Mind blowing? Incredible? Amazing?” Sam suggested when he didn’t seem inclined to carry on.

“Awesome,” Callen said. “It was awesome.”

Sam snorted. “Awesome?” He asked. “Did you turn into Beale or something?”

Callen dug an elbow in Sam’s ribs at that, making Sam grunt. “Do not compare me to our technical analyst when we’re in bed together,” he complained. “Or I’ll get suspicious.”

“I promise you have nothing to worry about in that regard,” Sam said. “No one could compare to you and especially not someone as young and naive as Beale. Besides, Nell’d have my balls if I even looked at him funny.”

Callen snorted with laughter at that. “You’re afraid of Nell?” He teased. “Big SEAL stud like you?”

“Hell yeah,” Sam agreed fervently. “I’ve seen her in action, that girl fights dirty. Kind of like someone else I know.”

“Is that right?” Callen asked innocently. At the same time, Sam felt his ass clench around where Sam was still inside him.

Sam grunted. “Definitely don’t fight fair,” he said. But he didn’t object too much, instead shifting to lick and suck on the side of Callen’s neck, making his partner squirm underneath him.

“Seems I’m not the only one who doesn’t fight fair,” Callen said around a gasp, pressing back against Sam as he did so.

Sam just hummed in agreement, moving to bite down Callen’s neck, not caring that he was leaving marks behind. He decided they had time for round two before he absolutely had to eat something. Being G Callen’s partner was hard work but it definitely had it’s up side as well.

Callen pushed up against Sam again, clenching his ass down on Sam’s cock once more, so Sam decided to up the ante. He pulled back and smacked Callen’s ass once, hard.

Callen yelled in surprise, but humped up against Sam again, so Sam hit him again, in the same spot. Callen made eager noises beneath him, so Sam spanked him a few more times, then pulled back, making Callen moan.

“Sh, baby,” Sam said, reaching to the nightstand as he moved. He pulled out a paddle and plug, then got behind Callen again.

Sam reached for the lube and quickly slicked up the plug. Resting one hand on Callen’s back, he slowly pressed the plug into his ass, watching as it glided into Callen, who was making pleased noises but held still for Sam without needing to be told.

“That’s it sweetheart, take it for me,” Sam told him, twisting the plug and pulling it back out before shoving it in hard again.

“Sam!” Callen cried out as his prostate was hit, trembling beneath Sam’s touch.

“Sh, sh,” Sam said, rubbing his back.

Callen was panting, skin glistening with sweat, but he held still as Sam situated the plug to his satisfaction. Once he was done, Sam picked up the paddle. He settled into position on the bed behind Callen and raised the paddle. He didn’t give his partner any warning, instead just bringing the paddle down hard on the spot he had spanked earlier, where the flesh was already slightly red.

The paddle made a loud noise as it connected with Callen’s ass. A second later, his partner was yelling loudly as the red on his skin bloomed darker. Sam grinned with pleasure at the sight and began spanking in a regular rhythm, hard and fast, covering Callen’s whole ass with his blows.

Callen was moaning as Sam worked him over expertly, body shaking from the force of Sam’s strikes, but he held still. Sam could see him gripping the sheets hard, as he stayed in place.

“Move for me baby,” Sam encouraged him, knowing it was what his partner wanted.

Callen groaned, but on the next strike, pushed up into the blow. Sam kept his rhythm going, watching as Callen’s ass got more and more red and he continued to rise up to meet the strikes. 

Eventually, Sam hit a particular spot and Callen gave a yell, arms collapsing beneath him and he slumped to the bed.

“Please,” Callen sobbed. “Need to come Sam.”

“Alright baby, I’ve got you,” Sam told him. “Six more and then we’re done.”

Callen was panting for breath, so Sam give him a minute to recover, before giving him the final six spanks hard and fast, not pausing in between. As he hit the last time, Sam said “Come now, baby.”

Callen yelled and his body froze beneath Sam, then he was shaking with the force of his orgasm. Sam dropped the paddle and rubbed Callen’s bright red ass, grasping the plug with his other hand and pulling it free.

Callen moaned, but didn’t move and Sam pushed his cock into Callen’s ass in one smooth, hard glide, not stopping till he was all the way inside.

It only took a few thrusts and then Sam was coming as well, grunting as he spent his load in his partner’s heated ass. Done, Sam fell forward onto Callen again, but this time he rolled them, so that they were on their sides.

They lay there recovering in silence, until Sam had to pull out. Callen made a sound of protest, but Sam put an arm around him and kissed his shoulder and they lay there for a while longer, content with the silence.

Sam’s stomach broke the silence with a loud rumble and Callen laughed. “Time to feed you, Big Guy,” he said, patting Sam’s arm.

“Yeah,” Sam agreed and reluctantly shifted away from Callen on the bed. “Shower first, though.”

“Okay,” Callen said with a sigh.

Sam looked at his partner critically. “What’s the matter G?” he asked.

Callen shook his head as he rolled off the bed to his feet, careful not to let his ass touch the bed as he got up. 

Sam came close to him. “We don’t have to go back tomorrow,” he pointed out, guessing what was bothering his partner.

Callen gave a rueful smile. “You know me too well,” he said wryly. “But you also know we do, it’s not fair to the rest of the team if we stay away. This case needs to be solved and we all need to be there to do it.”

“Alright,” Sam agreed. “But we’re not going until tomorrow morning, so let’s enjoy the rest of our time here.”

Callen nodded agreement. “You take first shower and I’ll get dinner started,” he said.

“You shower,” Sam said firmly. “I’ll get dinner started. You can make a salad when you’re done.” 

Callen may have learned a few things over their years together, but Sam was still the better cook of the two of them.

*

The evening turned out to be pretty chilled out, they ate the steaks Sam had grilled to perfection with Callen’s salad and baked potatoes and a beer apiece. By mutual consent, they limited their alcohol to the one beer. After dinner and clean up, Sam put a movie on and Callen curled up on the sofa with him.

They weren’t even halfway through the film when Sam heard soft snores coming from his partner. He looked down with a fond smile, pleased to see that Callen had relaxed enough after the emotions of the day to fall asleep so easily. 

Sam watched the rest of the film before rousing Callen enough to guide him through to the bedroom, where he fell back asleep as soon as he was settled in the bed. Sam joined him fairly quickly and curled around Callen’s back, where he drifted off before long as well.

*

Callen was awake first the next morning, to his surprise. He took a second to appreciate the sight of his partner sleeping so peacefully, before he was forced to head to the bathroom.

Once he was done, Callen headed to the kitchen for coffee. Sam had set up the machine the night before, so a quick press of a button was all he needed to start it brewing. Callen was reaching for mugs when an arm came around his middle and a kiss was pressed to the back of his neck.

“Mm, morning,” Sam rumbled, as he hugged Callen from behind.

Callen smiled and pressed back against his partner’s body. “Good morning to you too, sleepyhead,” he teased.

The joke earned him a swat to his ass, making Callen hiss. He was pretty sore from yesterday still, but he didn’t regret it a bit and knew Sam didn’t either.

“Breakfast and after you shower, I’ll put some aloe on that for you,” Sam told Callen, as he pulled away.

Callen poured coffee as Sam made eggs and toast for both of them.

Once breakfast was over and they’d showered, Sam urged Callen to lie down on the bed. Callen stretched out, head pillowed on his folded arms, happy to let his partner check him over, knowing Sam needed to do this before they headed back to L.A.

The aloe cream felt good as Sam massaged it into his back and ass, cool against the sore flesh. Callen moaned and shifted a little as Sam worked the cream into his ass.

Sam chuckled behind him. “Insatiable much?” he asked.

“Can’t help it,” Callen mumbled.

“Well you’ll have to wait,” Sam told him. “We need to get on the road.”

Callen sighed at that, but he knew Sam was right. Plus, there was something to be said for the simmer of unfulfilled arousal. It meant when something did eventually happen, it would be all the sweeter.

“Alright, I’m done,” Sam told him. 

Callen stretched, before rolling to his feet. “Thanks Sam,” he said, drawing his partner close so that they could share a kiss.

Sam pulled away far too soon for Callen’s liking. “Work, remember?” he said.

Callen couldn’t help pouting just a bit, even if he’d just been telling himself he liked being turned on without being able to come. He reached for his clothes reluctantly.

Sam’s hand on his arm made him look up. “You okay G?” he asked.

Callen nodded slowly. He didn’t really want to go back to work but knew they had to. Maybe after the case was done, they’d be able to come back here for a few days.

“Do you want me to put you in chastity?” Sam asked. 

Callen looked up startled. He hadn’t been expecting that question, but as he thought about it, he knew Sam had figured out what he hadn’t. He needed something to help him focus on the case and remind him that Sam was at his side.

“Yeah, I think I do,” he agreed, giving Sam a small smile.

Sam’s answering smile was warm. “Hold on then,” he said and headed into their playroom, where the equipment he’d need was kept.

Sam came back with the silver steel cock cage that was their favorite. He sat on the edge of the bed, so Callen stood in front of him and watched as Sam gently but expertly slid the cage into place. Callen could feel his pulse quicken as his arousal flared once more. But the cock cage made it impossible for him to get hard.

Once Sam was done, he locked the cage and then put the keys onto a chain he could wear under his shirt.

“Better?” he asked, looked up at Callen.

Callen nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “Feels good.”

“Alright then, you get dressed while I load the car,” Sam told him. “I’ll text Hetty to let her know we’re on our way back.”

“Okay,” Callen agreed, reaching for his clothes again. Time to put on the persona of Special Agent Callen of NCIS once more.

*

The journey back to L.A. was long and not very interesting, but they filled it with conversations about football, some of their cases and a trip to Hawaii that Sam was keen on them taking in the summer. 

Callen found that he kept getting distracted though, because every time he shifted in his seat, he got a little flare of pain in his ass, which reminded him of the night before and made his cock try and get hard, but not be able to because of the cage surrounding. 

Callen bit his lip as he shifted again. He had lost track of what Sam was saying, instead getting lost in the sensations of his body. The car coming to a stop startled him out of his internal focus and he looked round at his partner.

“Sam?” he asked, confused as to why they were stopping in the middle of nowhere.

“You’ve not heard a word I’ve said for at least ten minutes G,” Sam replied. 

Callen felt himself blush and he looked down guiltily. “Sorry,” he muttered.

“Hey,” Sam took his chin and turned Callen’s face towards him, so Callen reluctantly looked up at him. His partner’s expression was a mixture of fondness and exasperation. “What can I do to help?” he asked.

Callen bit his lip again. “I don’t think there is anything,” he admitted. “The pain is a turn on, but then I can’t get hard, which is another turn on.”

“Catch-22,” Sam said and Callen nodded agreement. “What about if I put more aloe on?” Sam asked. “Numb it some more, will that help?”

Callen shrugged. “Maybe,” he said. He didn’t really know at this point. “I’ll be fine at work,” he added.

“I know you will G,” Sam told him. “I’ve seen you compartmentalize enough times at work to know this won’t distract you. But in the meantime, we’re only halfway back to L.A. So unless you want to try and sleep the rest of the way, let me put some more cream on, okay?”

Callen nodded. “Okay,” he agreed. “Here?” he added doubtfully, as he looked around.

Sam had picked a wooded area near the road to stop and pulled up under some trees, so they were actually fairly well hidden from the view of any passing cars.

“As long as we stay away from the side facing the road, we should be good for a few minutes,” Sam told him. “Not like there’s a lot of passing traffic anyway.”

Callen had to agree with Sam’s assessment. Part of the reason they had picked the cabin they did was because of how remote it was. There wasn’t much in the area to attract casual visitors even this far on the route back to the city, so it was worth the risk.

“Come on then,” Sam said and opened his door.

Callen followed suit, walking around to Sam’s side of the car, where they would be blocked from view of anyone driving by. He undid his jeans and pushed them and his boxers down to his knees.

“Lean against the car,” Sam told him in a rough voice, as he came back from getting the aloe cream from his bag in the trunk.

Callen felt another flash of arousal at the husky voiced command and couldn’t help but move into a position he knew would provoke Sam. He bent over, resting his hands on the top of the car, spread his legs as widely as he could while still wearing his jeans and stuck his ass out.

“Shit G,” Sam said in that rough growl and Callen grinned to himself, deciding to up the ante.

“Don’t hurt me sir,” he said, affecting a breathless voice. “I promise I’m not hiding anything. I’ll do whatever you want.”

The only answer came in the form of a loud growl, then Callen felt the bulk of Sam’s body up close against his back. 

“I should just fuck you right here,” Sam told him. “I bet you’d love that, wouldn’t you? My big cock sliding into that tight little hole of yours and filling you up.”

Callen whined. Dirty talk like that from Sam was guaranteed to rev him up in no time, but his cock still couldn’t get hard with the cage in place. He tried to shift back against Sam, but his partner hadn’t left him any room, using his bigger size to keep Callen in place, pinned against the car.

“Please,” Callen begged. “Please Sam.”

There was a long silence behind him, then the sound of Sam moving away. “No,” he said, voice still deep, but more normal now. “No, I’m going to make you wait,” he said.

Callen whined again, feeling cold and bereft at the loss of his partner’s closeness and heat.

“Sh, G,” Sam said. “You’ll like it better if we wait.” 

And then Callen felt Sam’s hands on his ass and the cool aloe cream spreading across the hot skin. He tipped his head forward to rest on his arms, closing his eyes and breathing deeply as he tried to regain control. He knew Sam was right, and they did still have to get back to work soon, because even Hetty’s patience with him had it’s limits. But god he wanted a rough, hard ride right now.

Sam rubbed the cream in gently, staying quiet as he did so and Callen continued to breathe deeply, letting the sounds of nature and his partner’s touch soothe him and bring him back down from the edge of arousal.

By the time Sam was done, Callen had gotten himself under control again and he straightened slowly, before dressing himself again. When he finally turned round, Sam was standing waiting patiently, watching him closely.

“I’m okay,” Callen told him. “Thank you.”

“For what?” Sam asked curiously.

“For knowing me as well as you do, knowing what I need and how to deal with me without killing me,” Callen told him seriously.

Sam smiled suddenly. “I love you, G, so don’t change okay?”

“Okay,” Callen agreed, a bit confused by the sudden change in Sam’s demeanor but going with it.

“Let’s get going then,” Sam told him and Callen nodded agreement, heading back around the car to the passenger seat.

“We should stop for lunch for the team on the way back,” Callen said as Sam pulled back onto the road. 

“I think we owe them at least that much,” Sam agreed. “But you’re paying.”

“Of course,” Callen told him. “I’m the one who screwed up and needs to apologize. You were just along for the ride.”

“I doubt the others will see it like that,” Sam said. “Where do you want to go?”

As they rejoined the highway back to the city, they started a conversation about favorite eating places and Callen felt something settle inside of him once more.

 

*

When Sam and Callen finally got back to the office, carrying trays of drinks and sandwiches for everyone, they found the rest of the team sat around in the bullpen.

“What, you replaced us already?” Callen asked, when he saw Eric and Nell occupying his and Sam’s desks.

“Dead men’s shoes,” Nell said, as she got up from Callen’s desk.

“Would you be as quick to jump in our graves?” Sam asked, glaring at Eric as he did so.

Eric stuttered as he hastily got out of Sam’s chair.

“Relax, Mr Callen, Mr Hanna, I told them to sit there,” Hetty said, from where she stood by the pillar.

“I’m not sure you deserve the lunch we brought you now,” Callen said as he put down the tray of drinks he carried.

“No holding out on us,” Deeks said. “We were just following orders.”

“That’s what the Nazis said,” Sam told him as he set down the sandwiches he was carrying.

“Whoa!” Deeks exclaimed. “That’s a little harsh there dont’cha think?”

“Well I’m glad to see you guys,” Kensi chimed in, as Callen handed her a drink.

“Thank you Kens,” Callen told her. “You always were my favorite.”

That earned him a “Hey!” from Sam, making Callen wink at his partner. Sam just shook his head and started to hand out the food.

“I take it from all the noise the rest of the team have returned,” Granger said, making Callen look up.

“We even brought you lunch too Granger,” Sam told him. “So you can look at least a little pleased to see us.”

“Well thank you for that Agent Hanna,” Granger said drily.

“Oh don’t thank him,” Callen said. “I paid.” He brought a drink over to Granger as he said it.

“Well that was very generous of you Mr Callen,” Hetty said behind him, as she took her sandwich from Sam.

Granger just grunted. “I need a word please, Agent Callen,” he said.

“Now?” Callen asked.

“Now,” Granger confirmed.

Callen pulled a face, but didn’t argue, instead following behind Granger as he headed back to his office, ignoring the look Sam was giving him as he went. This was sure to be unpleasant, so it was probably better to do it before he ate.

“Please take a seat,” Granger said, as he shut the door behind Callen and crossed to sit behind his desk.

Callen rested his hands on the back of the chair. “You know, if I’m getting an ass chewing, I prefer to stand,” he replied.

“This isn’t an ass chewing, Agent Callen, so please sit down,” Granger told him.

“Alright,” Callen said as he reluctantly settled in the chair in front of the desk. “What is it then, if not a telling off?”

“Think of it as a clearing of the air,” Granger said. “I wanted to discuss what happened yesterday and what caused you to take that action.”

“Sounds like an ass chewing to me,” Callen pointed out, not caring how obnoxious he sounded.

Granger glared at him, but Callen just gave him a stony look back. He wasn’t scared of the Assistant Director. He was no Hetty in the glaring department. Hell, even Sam was scarier when he gave Callen a certain look.

After several minutes of the silent battle of wills, Granger broke first.

“When we first met, I had no idea who you were,” he told Callen. “The case you were involved in thirty years ago, I came in at the end, for the tactical part of the mission. I didn’t know you were a plant from Hetty and I never even knew your name. It wasn’t in any of the reports that were submitted in connection with the case, even after it was concluded. It wasn’t until yesterday that Hetty confided in me who you were and your shared past. Even then, she only limited her revelations to what was pertinent to the matters at hand.”

Callen sat there after Granger finished his explanation, digesting what he’d been told. “I didn’t recognize you either,” he finally said. “That night in the boat shed, even later, in Ops, I didn’t put you together with the guy who shot the bad guy. I hadn’t even thought about that period in time for years, until hearing the name Noguchi brought it all back.”

“You buried it?” Granger suggested.

Callen shrugged. “Maybe,” he agreed. “I just didn’t think about it. It was done and over with a long time ago. I prefer to look forward, not back. There were no lasting effects on me from what happened in those few days, so it was easier just to forget about it.”

“Not exactly healthy,” Granger pointed out.

Callen snorted. “I don’t need mental health advice from you Granger,” he said. “I do just fine, thanks.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Granger said. “It’s not really anything to do with me, though, that much is true. So long as you’re cleared by the experts, then you’re free to carry on doing your job. I just wanted to let you know my position, which is that you took some personal time to deal with an urgent family matter and nothing else needs to be said. I consider this closed now.”

“And what about Sam?” Callen asked. “He was away for the same period of time.”

Granger raised his eyebrows, as if surprised Callen would ask. “The same applies to him,” he said. “Now, are you able to continue working on this case, knowing that Noguchi Junior is probably involved?”

“I never even knew that there was a Noguchi Junior until Nell brought him up in the briefing yesterday,” Callen reminded him. “I barely knew anything about what I was involved in thirty years ago, because Hetty made sure that I was as protected as she could make me from any problems down the line. Granted, neither of us expected something to happen this far in the future from the original case, but I don’t think the two are connected. From what I was able to get from the case briefing, this is typical Yakuza mob behavior we’re investigating and Noguchi’s father is probably totally irrelevant beyond being the reason why Junior is actually involved in criminal activity.”

Granger nodded at Callen’s response. “That’s my understanding of the situation as well,” he agreed. “So I’ll let you go get caught up on the case while I eat my lunch. And thanks for the sandwich, Callen.”

“Sure,” Callen said, getting up. “Sam chose it, though, so if you don’t like it, you can blame him.” And on that note, Callen left Granger’s office behind.

*

Back in the bullpen, Callen took advantage of the hubbub to slide into his seat and push his lunch aside. His ass was feeling sore and the conversation with Granger had made him uncomfortable, so he decided to forego eating for the moment. He surreptitiously slid the aspirin from his desk drawer, swallowing two tablets quickly, then reaching for the soda he’d chosen to have with his lunch.

A quick glance around afterwards showed everyone was still distracted by eating, so Callen opened up his laptop to bring up the latest reports on the case and started to skim read through the pertinent information.

“Mr Callen,” Hetty materialized at the side of his desk. “Everything alright?”

Callen looked up at her. “Everything is fine, juts getting caught up on the case,” he said.

“And Assistant Director Granger?” Hetty asked.

“Is in his office, presumably eating lunch,” Callen told her.

Hetty gave him a look, but Callen just looked back, unfazed.

“Very well,” Hetty finally said. “We can discuss other matters at another time, when this case is concluded.”

“Sure,” Callen agreed, although he had no intention of discussing the old case with Hetty if he could avoid it. He just wanted to forget the whole thing once more.

“You should eat your lunch, Mr Callen,” Hetty said, as she turned to leave.

Callen snorted. It had been a long time since Hetty had tried to tell him about his eating habits. “Maybe later,” he told her, just as a loud ping sounded from Eric’s tablet, where it rested on Sam’s desk.

“Got something,” Eric announced as he grabbed the tablet and tapped at it.

Everyone looked at him expectantly and things started to appear on the plasma in the corner of the room.

“What is it Eric?” Callen asked, forgetting about his lunch and Hetty, as he moved from his desk to look at the material filling the screen.

“Access to Noguchi’s emails,” Eric said, still working his tablet. “There’s a ton of stuff to go through here, I’ll need some time to sift it for anything helpful.”

“Alright, let us know when you get anything, Nell can help you,” Callen directed. “We need to go through these witness interviews again.”

Eric and Nell both grabbed the remnants of their lunch and moved away to start working on the emails, while the rest of the team gathered around to discuss the interviews that Kensi and Deeks had done the previous day.

“Before we start, I want to say something,” Callen said, leaning against the support pillar he’d been standing by while they looked at the emails Eric had found.

Kensi and Deeks gave him expectant looks, while Sam nodded supportively from his desk.

“I wanted to apologize. For yesterday,” Callen started. He looked down, but forced himself to give both Kensi and Deeks a firm look. “This case brought back some memories from my past, that I wasn’t prepared for and needed to deal with. Sam helped me do that. It meant you two were left holding the bag on this case and you’ve done good work so far.”

He paused to take a breath, but no one interrupted him. “So thank you for keeping things going and I’m sorry for walking out like that and then dragging Sam into it as well. That’s it.”

He looked from Kensi to Deeks, almost holding his breath.

“Hey, as far as I’m concerned we’re all good man,” Deeks said. “So long as you’re alright, that’s the important thing.”

“Yeah,” Kensi added. “It’s not like we don’t all have issues in our past that have affected us on cases before. So long as you’re okay Callen, we’re fine.”

Callen breathed a sigh of relief. That had gone a lot more easily than he had expected it to.

“Alright then, where are we with the case?” Sam asked.

And with that, they all switched to work mode and focussed on the matter at hand. Kensi summarized the interviews they had carried out.

“I think we should look at Ross again,” Sam said, when she finished. “Something about his account is bothering me.”

“Do you want us to bring him to the boat shed?” Deeks asked.

Callen shook his head. “Sam and I will do it. He may respond differently to someone else. You two stay here, keep going through the financials and see if Eric is getting anywhere with those emails.”

“Alright then,” Deeks said. 

Callen nodded and headed out with Sam.

 

*

The interview with Ross was frustrating. He had been lying, but not about anything to do with the case. A few hours later, they had no reason to keep him in custody and so they let him go and went back to Ops.

“Hey, how’d you get on?” Kensi asked as they walked in, both subdued.

“No dice,” Sam said as he sat down. “He was lying about being with his girlfriend, he was gambling. But it had nothing to do with the case.”

“I might have something,” Eric said, running down the stairs to join them in the bullpen, tablet in hand.

“A lead?” Deeks asked hopefully.

Eric gave a little shrug as he tapped at his tablet. “Maybe, not sure yet,” he told them. “I’ve been sorting through Noguchi’s emails like you asked. Most of them are routine, boring stuff, but he seems to talk daily with this guy.”

As Eric pointed at the plasma, a picture appeared on the screen. “Who is he?” Callen asked, as he settled into his desk chair, studying the picture of a middle aged white guy.

“An art dealer by the name of William Jenkins,” Eric said. “He owns a gallery in New York, but he and Noguchi have been sending emails with pictures of Shunga back and forth on a regular basis for the last several months.”

“Shunga?” Deeks asked. “What is that, some sort of sushi?”

“Why would an art dealer and Yakuza member be emailing pictures of sushi?” Kensi demanded.

“It’s not sushi,” Sam said.

“No it is most definitely not,” Eric agreed.

“So what is it then?” Deeks asked again.

“It’s Japanese erotic art,” Callen told him.

Deeks got wide-eyed at that. 

“Not just any erotic art, though,” Sam added. “This is a tradition that dates back centuries, usually done as woodblock prints.”

“That’s right, I remember there was an exhibition when I was stationed at Okinawa,” Kensi said. 

Deeks was looking between them, not sure if they were joking or not.

“So what’s the deal with the emails Eric, why do you think they might be relevant?” Callen asked him.

“Because they email the same picture back and forth to each other, but the attachments are never quite the same size. Jenkins sends a picture, asking Noguchi’s opinion on it. Noguchi then sends it back, but the attachment is larger, with comments on the picture. Then Jenkins sends a new picture, rinse, repeat,” Eric explained, showing them a string of emails as he did so.

“Do you think they’re hiding something in the emails Eric?” Sam asked, looking thoughtful.

“In the pictures, definitely,” Eric agreed. He put up two pictures side by side on the screen.

“What the hell is that?” Deeks exclaimed, as they saw the picture clearly for the first time.

“That one is called The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife,” Eric explained.

“That is a woman with two octopuses,” Deeks said.

“It’s a classic of the genre,” Sam told him. “It dates back to 1815.”

“That is just wrong, on so many levels,” Deeks shook his head at the pictures. 

Callen was trying not to laugh, while Kensi didn’t even bother holding back.

“So you think there’s steganography at play?” Hetty asked, suddenly appearing in the entrance to the bullpen.

“That’s my best guess,” Eric agreed.

Deeks was still shaking his head over the pictures and Callen was now laughing as well as Kensi. Sam just shook his head at them all.

“Mr Callen, Ms Blye, please calm yourselves,” Hetty said. “It is not Mr Deeks’s fault he is not so worldly as the two of you.”

“Oh that’s not it at all,” Deeks immediately disagreed with Hetty. “That is just so unnatural and weird.”

“No weirder than a lot of other things,” Callen pointed out, feeling a little defensive.

“Tentacle erotica is a well known phenomenon in Japan,” Sam said.

“Perhaps we can save the discussion for another time,” Hetty suggested. “Mr Beale, are you able to uncover what might be hidden in these pictures?”

“I mean, I should be able to,” Eric told her. “I can write a program that will scan each picture in turn, looking for anomalies.”

“Then I suggest you go and do so, please,” Hetty told him.

He nodded and hurried towards the stairs back up to Ops, looking glad to escape.

“I’m sure the rest of you have things you could be doing as well,” Hetty said, looking around at the four of them.

“Of course,” Callen agreed and the others quickly chimed in their agreements as well.

“Very well then, I shall leave you to get on,” Hetty said and with a nod, she turned and headed back to her office space.

*

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. Nell couldn’t find anything shady in Jenkins’s past or business dealings and Eric’s program was taking it’s time to scan the pictures. The team hadn’t turned up any fresh ideas or clues to help them so Hetty agreed that they might as well call it a night, as there was nothing urgent going on.

Kensi and Deeks quickly escaped, discussing where to go and eat dinner.

“What about you G?” Sam asked. “Where do you want to go for dinner? Don’t think I didn’t notice you never got around to eating lunch today.”

Callen grimaced as they headed out to Sam’s car. “Guess I just forgot,” he said.

“Right, try that on someone who doesn’t know you as well as I do,” Sam told him.

Callen stopped by the passenger door and looked over the car at Sam. “I’m not lying Sam,” he insisted. “I just forgot I hadn’t eaten. Missing one meal isn’t a problem.”

Sam gave him a glare as he got into the car. “It’s not like you to do that though G,” he said as he fastened his seat belt.

Callen gave a half-hearted shrug as he buckled up as well. “I guess my head is still a little messed up from yesterday,” he admitted.

“Well I’m sure I can help you with that,” Sam told him, giving Callen’s leg a quick squeeze before he pulled out. “Let’s eat dinner in tonight, okay?”

“Your place?” Callen asked.

Sam gave him a quick glance. “Is that what you want G?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Callen said.

Sam smiled at him. “Then my place it is,” he agreed.

*

The next morning, Sam and Callen were back at OSP early. Callen had woken up at 4am with an idea about the case and had left Sam sleeping to go through reports again on his laptop. Sam had found him sitting at the dining table when his alarm went off and he got up to go for his usual morning run.

Callen had agreed he could wait until Sam had been for his run before they headed to the office. He had also refused Sam’s suggestion he join Sam on the run, saying he wanted to finish the research he was doing.

But when Sam got back, he found his partner had breakfast waiting for them – Sam’s usual smoothie and his compromise breakfast of omelette and toast for himself.

They were in the office by 7am and Callen went straight up to ops, after he’d put down his bag. No one else from the team was in yet, including Hetty. Eric’s program was still running, visible on a couple of screens at one end of the room, but Callen ignored it, instead going to a free networked machine and settled down. 

Logging on, Callen started the research he couldn’t do from his laptop into Petty Officer Ross. He’d realized when he’d woken up that they’d never followed up on Ross’s explanation of where he’d actually been, instead getting distracted by the whole Shunga email thing.

“Agent Callen!” Nell’s surprised voice broke his concentration some time later and he looked up to see her standing next to him.

“Oh morning Nell,” he said with a smile.

“Is there a problem?” she asked, setting down her bag and slipping off her jacket.

He shook his head. “Just doing some follow up from yesterday,” he told her.

“Can I help you?” she asked, looking at his screen.

“I’m good,” he replied. 

The door swished open behind them and he heard Eric come in.

“Good morn.. oh, Agent Callen,” Eric’s cheerful greeting turned to an expression of surprise to match Nell’s when he caught sight of Callen at one of the terminals.

“Eric,” Callen nodded at him. “Your program finished a little while ago.”

“Oh!” Eric exclaimed and went to one of the terminals on the other side of the room, dropping his rucksack as he sat down and started typing furiously.

“I’ll rally the troops,” Callen said, sensing how uncomfortable Nell was with him in their domain. She nodded and he headed to the door to call the rest of the team.

Kensi and Deeks looked surprised that he was the one summoning them, but Sam just led the way upstairs without comment.

“What’s new?” Kensi asked, as they settled in the middle of the room.

“P.O. Ross,” Callen said, nodding at Nell, who used her tablet to transfer his research to the screen. 

“He’s the guy who was gambling, not with his girlfriend?” Deeks asked.

“Right,” Callen agreed. “Well, I got to thinking, remember the Yakuza case we worked with ATF?”

The rest of the team nodded agreement. “Well, I decided to do some research into where he was gambling,” Callen told them. “I didn’t get the opportunity yesterday to check into his story.” He cut a glance at Deeks as he said it, even though he didn’t really blame the detective for his lapse and forgetting to follow up.

“What did you find G?” Sam asked.

Callen looked to Nell again, who brought up some security footage. “He wasn’t at a casino, like he implied,” Callen said. “This is a private club in West Hollywood and it belongs to Noguchi. This is P.O. Ross in there last Thursday.”

Nell ran the footage, which showed Ross playing at a blackjack table. After a while, a beautiful Asian woman came over to him and whispered in his ear. He nodded at her and a few minutes later, scooped up his winnings, then followed her towards the back of the club.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have any footage of the back rooms,” Callen said. “But this is a couple of hours later.” He gestured at the screen again and the footage showed Ross coming back through into the main area of the club, accompanied by the man they had identified as Taro Noguchi and a couple of other men who were clearly bodyguards.

“I have more information,” Eric said suddenly, jumping up with his tablet. He brought something new up on the screen.

“Are those weapons schematics?” Sam asked.

“Yeah,” Eric agreed. “My program shows that this is what was embedded in those pictures that Noguchi was emailing back and forth with Jenkins.”

“Why do we think that Noguchi was sending weapons schematics to an apparently legitimate art dealer?” Hetty asked from the doorway.

The team turned to look at her with varying expressions of surprise at her sudden appearance.

“That would seem to be the million dollar question,” Kensi remarked. 

“Along with what exactly Ross was doing with Noguchi,” Sam added.

“I have new information,” Nell said and everyone turned to look at her.

New documentation and photos appeared on the big plasma screen.

“Who’s that guy?” Deeks asked, as they looked at a picture of an Asian male on the screen.

“I’ve been looking into the staff that work at Jenkins’ gallery,” Nell explained. “This guy, one Andrew Chen, is supposed to work as a general assistant, helping out wherever needed, whether in the office or doing manual work. However, his only registered address is here in L.A., as is his drivers license.”

“Maybe he only moved recently?” Kensi suggested.

Nell shook her head. “According to the gallery records, he’s worked there for the last five years,” she told them.

Callen moved closer to the screen to read some of the documents Nell had put up. “Says here that he has a computer science degree,” he told the team.

“Could be he’s some sort of hacker,” Sam suggested.

“But doing what, exactly?” Kensi asked.

“That would seem to be a question best put to Mr Chen,” Hetty suggested.

“Do we have a location on him?” Sam asked.

Eric nodded. “His phone GPS puts him in Studio City,” he told them.

“Alright, Kensi and Deeks, you go pick him up and take him to the boat shed. Sam and I are going to pay P.O. Ross another visit,” Callen said.

“Got it,” Deeks said.

“On it,” Kensi agreed and the two of them headed out of Ops.

“Good work Nell,” Callen said as he and Sam followed the others out the door.

“Thanks,” Nell replied with a smile. 

“Mr Beale, keep trying to access the rest of the footage from that gambling club,” Hetty instructed. “Miss Jones, keep digging into this Andrew Chen and the gallery side of things.”

“Yes ma’am,” they chorused then smiled at each other.

Hetty nodded at them and left to go back to her office.

*

A few hours later, they had the outline of the case sketched out. Ross had caved under the additional pressure from Sam and Callen, admitting he’d been passing intelligence to Noguchi. When Noguchi received pictures of artwork from Jenkins, he’d had Chen embedding the intel into the pictures and then had apparently been sending them back to Jenkins. 

Instead, Chen had been redirecting the emails to Noguchi’s contacts in Japan via a circuitous route that only Eric understood. Jenkins was completely innocent and unaware of what was going on. He hadn’t even known that Chen was apparently on his payroll. They’d had agents in New York go to speak to him and he’d been horrified by what they’d told him.

Meanwhile, Chen had been reluctant to talk, but once Kensi and Deeks laid out the evidence that Callen and Sam had gotten from Ross, he’d caved, in the hopes of getting a lighter sentence. He’d also agreed to help them get to Noguchi, so they could arrest him.

“So what’s the plan Agent Callen?” Granger asked, as they gathered in the main room of the boat shed.

“We’re going with subtle,” Callen told him. “Noguchi is the suspicious type, he has lots of muscle around him. Going tactical is likely to get messy.”

“I agree,” Granger nodded.

“So Ross is going to get Kensi and I in undercover as sailors on liberty. Chen has agreed to give us key card access to the back rooms and from there, it’s up to us. Sam and Deeks will be waiting at the back door, which is also key card access. Although Noguchi has bodyguards when he travels, he apparently relies on electronic security to keep him safe inside the club.”

Callen and Sam had argued for an hour over the undercover element, with Sam saying he should be the one to go, not Callen. He’d reiterated the point he’d made at their cabin about the risks of Callen going undercover when he still bore the marks of what Sam had done to him.

Eventually, though, he’d had to give in, when Callen had pointed out that they were going for subtle and despite Sam’s best efforts, a 6ft 3 in guy was never going to be subtle. Callen was an expert at blending in and was far less noticeable and they’d agreed that Kensi would play the gambler, meaning she’d get most of the attention.

They’d eventually gone back to the boat shed with Sam’s dire threats to Callen if anything should go wrong or he should be injured ringing in his ears.

Plan agreed, Kensi and Callen headed back to Ops to get ready, while Sam and Deeks stayed at the boat shed to prep Ross and Chen for their roles. Eric headed over to join them, he would be monitoring Chen while he worked on the computer systems to make sure he didn’t try and double cross them. Granger would keep them company while Ross headed to the club with Kensi and Callen.

*

Less than three hours later, it was all over. The plan had worked perfectly, with Kensi distracting everyone in the club by playing and winning spectacularly at blackjack, allowing Callen to access the back rooms. He’d then let Sam and Deeks in the rear entrance and they’d quickly located Noguchi in a secure office, thanks to the plans of the building Chen had helped Eric to access.

Entering the room had been easy, thanks to the key card Chen had given them and Noguchi had only had one bodyguard inside. Sam had subdued him within seconds, while Callen secured Noguchi and Deeks kept watch. Sam and Deeks had taken Noguchi out the back, while Callen returned to the club proper and after a suitable period, he and Kensi had left as well, covers intact.

The guard Sam had left unconscious and tied up, so no alarm had been raised and they had all met up at the boat shed. Callen had endured a few minutes of intense scrutiny from his partner, before Sam had agreed to handle the interrogation with Granger.

“So why aren’t you interrogating him?” Deeks asked Callen, as he settled at the table with a cup of coffee.

Callen gave a little shrug. “Sam was the one who arrested him, so it’s his interrogation,” he said. “And Granger is the Assistant Director, so if he decides he wants to be in the room, I agree like a good little agent.”

Deeks gave a snort at that and Kensi laughed. “What?” Callen affected wounded innocence. “I can be good.”

“Not sure Sam would agree with that,” Deeks observed.

Callen gave him a hard stare that had Deeks gulping and ducking his head to study his coffee. Fortunately for him, the plasma screen came alive and Hetty appeared.

“Good work lady and gentlemen,” she told them.

They all chorused a quick thanks before she went on. “The FBI have taken an interest in our case, so I have agreed that they can send an agent to observe the interrogation. Agent Rand will be joining you shortly, so please show her all courtesy. That means you Agent Callen,” she added. 

The screen went back to the interrogation before Callen could respond. The room was resoundingly silent afterwards and Callen was aware of the wary looks he was getting from the junior partnership. Fortunately, the door opening saved him from having to speak. Moments later, Agent Rand appeared.

“Agent Rand, good to see you again,” Kensi said quickly, offering a hand.

She smiled back and shook the hand. “Agent Blye, Detective Deeks, Agent Callen,” she nodded at the two men, before pulling out a chair.

Callen rolled his eyes, but didn’t say anything to her. “We should get back to Ops and change,” he told Kensi. “Deeks you’re okay to keep our guest company aren’t you?”

“Uh yeah, sure,” the detective agreed, looking surprised at Callen’s question.

“You’re not staying for the interrogation?” Rand asked.

Callen shook his head. “I can watch it later on catch up,” he said, half-sarcastic. “Let’s go Kens.”

“Sure,” Kensi agreed, following him towards the door. She looked surprised as well, but knew better than to question Callen.

*

When they arrived back at Ops, Hetty looked surprised to see them walking in. Kensi headed straight for wardrobe, leaving Callen to face their Operations Manager alone.

“Mr Callen,” she said. “I expected you to be at the boat shed, watching the interrogation for a while yet.”

Callen shrugged. “I wanted to get changed,” he told her, indicating his outfit. “They’ll be there for a while yet, as good as Sam and Granger might be, Noguchi isn’t going to break just like that. Besides, I expect he’ll be asking for his lawyer any minute now.”

Hetty raised her eyebrows at that, clearly not convinced by his arguments, but Callen just stared back, not giving ground. He was counting on Hetty not to bring up personal matters in the office.

“Very well then,” she finally said, after they’d spent a long while just staring at each other in silence. “I will leave you to go change.”

Callen nodded at her and headed towards his locker to collect his own clothes. When he got there, Kensi was waiting, already changed.

“You don’t have to wait for me Kens,” Callen told her. “I know you want to get back to your partner.”

“Deeks is a big boy, he can manage with Agent Rand for a while,” Kensi said. “It makes more sense for us to drive back together.”

Callen shook his head at her. “I’m fine Kensi,” he told her.

She smiled at him. “I know you are Callen,” she replied. “But humor me, okay?”

Callen sighed. “Fine,” he said. “I’ll just be a few minutes.”

She nodded at him and settled on the couch to wait. Callen just shook his head again and grabbed his clothes, before heading to wardrobe.

When he came back, Hetty was waiting with Kensi. “It seems you were right about Mr Noguchi and his lawyer,” she told him.

“Oh?” Callen waited expectantly.

“And unfortunately, the gentleman in question is out of town at present and won’t be back until the morning,” Hetty added. “Therefore, the interrogation will have to resume tomorrow. So you are all free to go home for now.”

Callen turned to Kensi. “You can go on ahead to pick up Deeks,” he told her. “I’m going to stay here and make a start on my paperwork.”

“Sure thing,” Kensi said, turning and heading towards the door.

“The paperwork can wait as well, Mr Callen,” Hetty told him. “Go get your partner and head home.”

“Alright Hetty,” Callen said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Good night Mr Callen,” she replied.

Callen went to pack his bag, hearing his phone beep with an incoming text as he did so. He pulled the phone out and found a message from Sam.

“On my way back to get my things, be ready to go.” 

Callen gave a snort of amusement at that. He knew that Sam was still in something of a mood after the op earlier and that he would be bearing the brunt of that once they got home. He quickly put his laptop away and then went over to Sam’s desk and put his partner’s laptop into his bag as well. 

When Sam strode in a few minutes later, Callen was sitting at his desk, playing a game on his phone while he waited.

“Ready to go G?” Sam asked.

Callen stood up and pocketed his phone. “All ready Big Guy,” he said lightly. He pointed to Sam’s desk. “Your stuff is ready for you.”

“Thanks partner,” Sam said with a small smile. He grabbed the bag and turned to head back out again. “Let’s go.”

Callen was a bit surprised by just how quickly his partner was moving, but just shouldered his own bag and hurried to catch up to Sam.

“Let’s grab some take out on the way home,” Sam said as they got into the Challenger.

“Whatever you want,” Callen agreed. He recognized his partner was in a mood and decided it was better just to go along with him.

“Good,” Sam said, giving him an intense look, before starting the car and heading down the drive.

Callen settled back in his seat, preparing himself for an interesting evening with his partner.

Once they were on the road, Sam gave him a quick glance. “Where do you want to stop for take out?” he asked.

Callen pursed his lips as he thought about it. He also considered just how far he could push Sam and what the outcome might be if he did. In the end, he decided to hell with it, he’d take whatever consequences Sam dished out.

“I was thinking Carmen’s lasagna would be pretty good actually,” he answered, giving Sam a sideways look as he said it.

Sam didn’t look away from the road, as he negotiated through the traffic, but Callen could see the way his eyebrows raised and then he frowned at Callen’s suggestion.

“Carmen doesn’t do take out,” he finally said mildly.

Callen shrugged. “I know,” he replied, equally casually. “I also know you love that fish thing she does and besides, if we eat out before we go home, I get to actually eat something hot, rather than having to put up with cold take out whenever you finally let me out of bed long enough to eat.”

Sam was giving him incredulous looks as he spoke, before pulling over to the side of the road and killing the engine.

“What the hell got into you G?” he demanded.

Callen undid his seat belt and shifted sideways to look at Sam properly. “I’m just stating a fact,” he pointed out. “You know that when you’re like this, you always have me bent over the couch before we’re barely in the door. It’s happened half a dozen times this month alone.”

“I don’t recall you complaining or saying no,” Sam said, sounding hurt. 

“That’s because I don’t have objections to the way you treat me,” Callen told him calmly. “I like your possessive side and the way you own me. You know that. But this case hasn’t been easy for me and I’d like a nice dinner out with my partner for a change. Then you can take me home and tie me to the bed if you want and not let me come. In fact, I’d enjoy that. And once we finish this stupid case tomorrow, I’d be very happy to go back to the cabin for a week and wear your collar and do whatever hot, crazy things you can come up with.”

Callen slumped back in his seat when he’d finished speaking, not used to talking so much about things. One of the best things about his relationship with Sam was how good his partner was at reading his moods and knowing what Callen needed even when Callen himself didn’t have a clue.

Sam just sat there after his outburst, the silence growing around them, despite the constant noise of passing traffic. Callen forced himself not to fidget, knowing Sam needed to think about what Callen had just told him before speaking or acting.

Eventually Sam reached out, grabbed Callen’s hand and pulled him forward, across the space between their seats. He pressed his mouth to Callen’s in a hard kiss, pushing his tongue into Callen’s mouth aggressively. His free hand came up to cup the back of Callen’s head, holding him in place for the onslaught, not that Callen had any intention of moving away.

When Sam finally broke the kiss, they were both breathing heavily and Callen shifted in his seat, pants uncomfortably tight.

“Why haven’t you ever said anything before?” Sam asked, as he moved back a little, but kept hold of Callen’s hand.

Callen entwined their fingers and squeezed. “Because usually I’m right there with you,” he told his partner. “I’m as caught up in the moment as you are, ready and eager for whatever it is you want to do to me.”

“But not this time?” Sam asked.

Callen gave a little shrug. “I guess being stuck outside the interrogation and then Rand turning up, I got a little distance from things and that calmed me down.”

“I thought you didn’t have a problem with Rand?” Sam asked, ignoring the personal stuff for a minute.

Callen pressed his lips together and clenched his jaw, remembering the case where he was undercover with white supremacists. He had hated that experience and had been unhappy at the outcome, especially not being able to save Charlie Connor before Rand had shot him. It had been a struggle to get the young man to listen to him and not Allder, but he’d thought he’d been getting somewhere, until Rand had intervened.

“I guess seeing her again today for the first time since that case just brought it all back,” he finally told Sam. 

“I can understand that,” Sam agreed. He studied Callen for a while, obviously thinking. 

Callen stayed quiet, still holding Sam’s hand, allowing his partner to decide what they were going to do.

“Let’s go to Carmen’s then,” Sam finally told him.

“Yeah?” Callen asked.

Sam nodded. “I wouldn’t mind some of Carmen’s smoked salmon and beetroot carpaccio,” he told Callen. “But I am speaking to Hetty tomorrow about us having some time off.”

Callen grinned at that. He could guess the sort of argument his partner would put forward to get Hetty to agree, although he had a feeling it wouldn’t actually take much to persuade her, based on the conversation he’d had with her a few days ago about Noguchi and the past. 

Sam pulled him forward for a short, dirty kiss, then let go and gave him a heated look. “When we get home, all bets are off,” he warned Callen.

Callen smirked. “Looking forward to it partner,” he told Sam.

Sam just shook his head as he put his seatbelt on and started the car again. Callen reached for his own seatbelt and settled in his seat, feeling better about things after they’d cleared the air. 

*

Dinner was every bit as delicious as Carmen’s food always was. They sat together in a booth, tucked in a corner out of the way, but with sight lines to the exits, to satisfy their cautious natures. Not that they were expecting trouble and after a while, even Callen had relaxed enough to just enjoy the food and conversation with his partner. There were plenty of heated looks and not-so-accidental teasing touches as well.

When they were finished, they declined coffee, but agreed to take some of Carmen’s chocolate cake home with them, when she came over to personally insist they try some. Callen handed over a credit card, adding a generous tip, for the attentive but discreet service.

Callen led the way out of the restaurant, Sam’s hand on his lower back as he followed close behind. Callen leaned into the touch as they waited at the door for an incoming party and he felt Sam press even closer under the guise of moving out of the way. Arousal was sizzling along his nerves now and he was glad it was dark enough to hide how tight his jeans were getting as they walked side by side to the car, arms brushing and fingers tangling as they crossed the street to where Sam had parked.

Fortunately, it wasn’t far to Sam’s house, but Callen was still impatient, hand on Sam’s thigh as they drove. Sam’s hands gripped the steering wheel tightly and he was focusing on the road ahead, ignoring Callen’s touch for the most part, although he brushed his fingers over Callen’s hand every time he changed gear.

As soon as they were parked in Sam’s drive, Callen was out of the car and heading for the front door, Sam crowding close behind. Callen pulled out his key to the door, unlocking it quickly and pushing it open.

Sam was on him as soon as they were inside, grabbing him and turning them so that Callen was slamming the door closed with his back even as Sam’s mouth was on his in a hard kiss and his hand was reaching for the door lock.

Callen groaned as his head hit the front door, opening to Sam’s possessive kiss. He just about managed to get the cake box he still carried on to the small table just inside the door, but his keys hit the floor with a loud clank.

Sam’s mouth moved from Callen’s to his neck, sucking and biting in a way guaranteed to leave marks. Callen should probably have been concerned about that, but he was already too far gone to care. 

One of Sam’s hands made quick work of Callen’s jeans, undoing them and reaching inside to rub Callen’s rapidly hardening dick through his boxers. The other hand was sliding under Callen’s T-shirt to pinch at a nipple.

“Fuck!” Callen groaned, barely able to process the onslaught of Sam’s attentions. His partner had gone for every single one of his hot buttons at the same time and Callen was already riding the edge of coming.

Sam pulled back, making Callen moan and he forced his eyes open to see what was going on. Sam gave him a feral grin, then grabbed Callen’s T-shirt and with little fanfare ripped it open down the front.

“Shit,” Callen moaned, turned on beyond belief at the show of strength from his partner. 

Sam still wasn’t saying anything, he just pulled the now ruined shirt off of Callen and threw it to one side. Then he roughly yanked Callen’s jeans and boxers down to his knees, before sliding to the ground in front of him.

Callen bent forward to watch as Sam swallowed his cock, then banged his head back against the door again with a shout as Sam sucked hard. One hand gripped a thigh tightly, while the other reached behind his balls to rub at his hole.

Callen scrabbled for purchase against the door, legs shaking as Sam sucked him expertly, while the tip of one finger slipped inside him.

Sam pulled back long enough to say, “Give it up for me G,” and then he was swallowing Callen’s cock again.

Callen indulged in a loud yell, to hell with the neighbors, as his body shook with the force of his coming. Only Sam’s grip on his thighs was keeping him upright at this point and even that was a dicey proposition. 

Sam rose to his feet and grabbed Callen by the shoulders, urging him to turn around. Callen slumped forward against the door, letting it keep him upright as he struggled to recover from his orgasm.

Sam had pulled Callen’s jeans and underwear the rest of the way down, then pulled off his boots and encouraged Callen to kick his clothes free. 

“Spread your legs,” Sam told Callen.

Callen groaned and did as he was told, levering himself up to lean on his palms against the door.

“Mm, nice,” Sam said, running his hands over Callen’s back and down to grip his ass. He massaged Callen’s ass for a few minutes, then Callen heard him fumbling in the drawer of the table, where they kept a tube of lube.

Sam didn’t mess around, sliding two fingers into Callen’s ass a couple of minutes later and going straight for his prostate. Callen moaned as Sam rubbed the sensitive spot firmly, before scissoring his fingers to stretch Callen.

Then the fingers were withdrawn and without any more preparation, Sam’s cock was at his hole and pressing inside. Callen forced himself to stay still and relax as Sam slowly but firmly pushed into him. Sam’s cock felt huge as it filled him, but Callen loved it, the intimacy of the connection and the feeling of being owned by Sam as he claimed him like this.

When Sam finally bottomed out inside him, pressing Callen up against the door, they both moaned. Sam held still, waiting for Callen to signal he was ready for him to move. Callen did so by pushing backwards slightly. It was enough for Sam to shift to a tight, bruising grip of his hips, ensuring Callen stayed in place.

Then Sam was withdrawing slowly, before thrusting back in hard and fast, setting a punishing rhythm. A shift in position made Callen cry out, seeing stars as Sam’s cock hit his prostate.

“That’s it,” Sam said. “Let me hear you G.”

Callen moaned again, as Sam continued to hammer into him, feeling his cock getting hard again, from the constant stimulation of his prostate. One hand slid from his hip round to grip his cock and Callen couldn’t help the constant stream of noise he was making as Sam wound him up tighter and tighter once more.

Finally, Callen was coming again with another shout, cock spurting over Sam’s hand, the door and floor. Sam carried on thrusting, until he grunted and froze behind Callen, then he was coming as well, until he slumped against Callen’s back, pressing him into the door. 

Callen grunted as he took his partner’s full weight on already shaky legs. Sam put his arms around him and guided him down to the floor not very gracefully, Callen hissing as Sam’s cock popped out of his ass as they went down.

They slumped together in a heap of tangled limbs, both still breathing hard, although Sam was pressing light kisses across Callen’s neck and shoulders.

*

Sam was surprised when his partner suddenly started laughing underneath him. He shifted reluctantly, pulling away from Callen and rolling upright with a groan. Really, he was probably getting too old to be doing this on the floor.

“What’s got into you?” he asked, somewhat grumpily.

Callen just laughed even more, shaking his head as he sat up cross legged. “Just the irony of me making a comment to you about bending me over the couch leads to you retaliating by not letting me get past the front door before you fuck me.”

“That’s what you get for making me wait G,” Sam told him, although he too could see the irony in the situation. “Besides it’s not like you didn’t get to come twice.”

“Oh I know,” Callen agreed, still chuckling as Sam pushed himself to his feet.

“Next time, you won’t get to come at all,” Sam promised him. “And you definitely won’t be coming at all the whole week we’re at the cabin.”

Callen licked his lips and gave a slight shiver at Sam’s threat, which made Sam grin. He knew that Callen would enjoy not being able to come, but he would still want to come, which would also frustrate him. Sam would enjoy the benefits of that.

Sam held out a hand to his partner, who grabbed and allowed himself to be dragged to his feet and pulled into Sam’s body. They shared a long kiss, before Sam finally broke it reluctantly.

“Pick up your stuff and go get in the shower,” he ordered. “I’ll clean up out here.”

Callen nodded agreement and bent to grab his jeans and underwear, while Sam put his own clothes to rights, before heading into the kitchen for supplies.

Once he’d cleaned up, Sam headed for the bedroom, where he found Callen already in bed, waiting for him.

“You forgot this,” Sam said, holding out the box of chocolate cake his partner had left on the table, as well as a couple of forks.

Callen sat up, accepting the box from Sam as he did so. “Thanks,” he said.

Sam quickly stripped and went into the bathroom for a quick clean up. When he re-emerged, Callen had disappeared, making Sam frown.

“G?” he called, heading out of the bedroom to look for his errant partner.

The open front door clued him in as to where Callen had gone, so Sam went to see what was going on.

“Hey!” Callen looked startled to see him standing there, as he came back through the door holding his bag.

“Something you forgot G?” Sam asked mildly.

Callen looked down and gave a small smile, but Sam could also see a faint blush on his face.

“G?” Sam came closer as Callen closed and relocked the front door. 

Callen took his bag into the living room and dropped it onto the coffee table. He rummaged around in it for a minute, before pulling out a box and handing it to Sam.

“Here,” he said. “Happy anniversary.”

Sam took the box, puzzled by his partner’s declaration. “It’s not our anniversary,” he said. “Our partnership anniversary is February and we got together the following April. It’s September now.”

Callen looked a bit impatient at Sam’s recitation. “I know,” he agreed. “This is our other anniversary.”

Sam could tell his partner was disappointed by his inability to work out what was significant about the date. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to remember what had happened between them at this time of year. Finally, it came to him and he winced at the realization that he’d forgotten such a significant date for the two of them.

Opening his eyes, Sam saw Callen was sitting on the couch, waiting for him to get it.

“I’m sorry G,” Sam said, going to sit beside him. He leaned forward to kiss his partner slowly and tenderly, letting him know how he felt. “We signed our first contract five years ago.”

Callen’s eyes fluttered open slowly and he smiled at Sam. “We did,” he agreed. “Now open your present,” he added eagerly, pointing to the box.

Sam smiled back at him, shaking his head a little at his partner’s enthusiasm. Callen tended to be more excited by giving presents to others than receiving them himself, probably because he’d never had anyone to share with until he moved into Hetty’s house as a teenager. 

The box wasn’t gift wrapped, it was plain brown packaging, with a mail centre and one of Callen’s aliases on the address label.

“When did you have time to pick this up?” he asked, as he pulled the paper away from the box.

“I didn’t,” Callen admitted. “Nell went for me.”

Sam looked up with a frown from where he was discarding the paper on the coffee table.

“She’s the only one I trust not to ask questions,” Callen admitted. “Even Hetty would have been unable to resist trying to find out more.”

Sam gave a thoughtful nod at that. Their team mates and Eric were equally as nosey. Any one of them wouldn’t have been able to resist googling the return address that he’d noticed was printed in a corner of the wrapping.

Sam opened the box which was plain as well, to find another box inside. “A piercing kit?” he asked, looking up at his partner in surprise.

Callen had a clenched jaw and raised eyebrows, as he looked at Sam. Clearly this was something that was important to him. Sam took his hand and tugged him forward into another kiss, taking his time until he felt Callen relax and melt against him.

“If this is what you want, we’ll do it as soon as we get our time off,” Sam told him once he broke the kiss.

Callen gave him a genuine smile at that. “Thanks Sam,” he said.

“No problem,” Sam replied. “How about I go find a nice bottle to open and we’ll celebrate with some bubbles and the cake?”

Callen grinned at that. “Sounds good,” he agreed.

“Go wait for me in bed then,” Sam told him and handed him the piercing kit. “Put this in the drawer for now.”

“Sure,” Callen said, bouncing to his feet like a kid.

Sam smiled and shook his head as he went to the rack where he kept his champagne. This called for something really special.

He decided on the champagne that Callen had given him for their five year partnership anniversary at work. He’d said at the time that he would save it for a special occasion and Sam decided this was as special as it got.

Sam took it into the kitchen to open and got down two flutes as well, before heading back to the bedroom and his partner.

Callen was in bed again, the pajama pants he’d worn out to Sam’s car thrown over a chair in the corner of the room. Sam shook his head, although he wasn’t really surprised. Tidiness would never really be a Callen virtue, no matter how much Sam reminded him about stuff.

“Here we are,” Sam told his partner, holding out the glasses.

Callen accepted them while Sam put the bottle on the nightstand. Sam got into bed beside Callen and then picked up the bottle to pour. Callen held out the glasses, watching as Sam half-filled both, before putting the bottle aside once more.

Turning back, he accepted the glass Callen held out to him and raised it slightly to toast them.

“Here’s to our first five years as Dom and sub and may we have many, many, more,” he said.

Callen grinned at him. “I like the sound of that,” he admitted. “Here’s to many, many more years together.”

They clinked glasses and then both took a sip of the champagne. Sam wasn’t surprised by the cautious look on his partner’s face, but he was pleased when Callen then gave a slow nod of appreciation once he’d swallowed the first mouthful.

“It’s okay,” Callen told him.

Sam snorted. “It’s a lot more than okay G,” he said. “You just don’t like admitting I’m right about something like this.”

Callen gave a little shrug, but swallowed some more of his drink. “I still prefer beer,” he said with a smirk.

“Philistine!” Sam said.

“But you love me anyway,” Callen answered with a smug grin.

Sam had to concede the truth of that, although he didn’t say so. Instead, he suddenly had an idea and reached out to take his partner’s glass from him.

“How about we try some aversion therapy?” he suggested.

Callen looked confused at that. “Aversion therapy?” he asked. “What are you talking about Sam?”

Sam persuaded him to shift to the middle of the bed and reached for the restraints that were attached to the headboard, quickly cuffing both wrists. Callen went willingly enough, eyes growing dark with arousal as Sam straddled him.

“Well, I’m wondering which tastes better, champagne flavored Callen or chocolate flavored Callen,” Sam told him.

“Oh!” Callen’s eyes widened with surprise as understanding dawned.

“Okay?” Sam asked.

Callen smirked at him. “Have at it,” he said, spreading his arms as much as the restraints would let him.

Sam smirked back at him, reaching for his glass of champagne once more. He carefully tipped it up and poured a small amount of the liquid on to Callen’s chest, covering his nipple. Then Sam bent and licked a stripe across the nipple, getting the flavor of Callen and the champagne. He hummed a little as he poured some more champagne and licking and sucking some more.

Callen moaned and Sam pulled back to look up at him. His partner’s pupils were blown wide and dark with arousal and he was biting his lip as he looked down at Sam, pulling at the restraints as he unconsciously strained upwards into Sam’s attentions.

Sam grinned wickedly at him and kept his eyes locked on Callen’s, as he slowly lifted the champagne glass once more. Callen’s eyes widened, clearly curious as to what Sam was going to do next. Sam had to look away, to see what he was doing and he slowly poured champagne down onto Callen’s chest, watching it trickle down his partner’s body.

When the glass was empty, Sam put it aside and bent his head once more, licking and sucking Callen’s chest and stomach as he moved downwards, making sure he lapped up all the champagne, chasing drops as they slid down Callen’s side. 

When Sam pulled back again, Callen was breathing hard, body flushed with arousal. His cock was purple and leaking and Sam knew he had to be desperate to come by now. But Sam wasn’t done yet. He was going to keep teasing his partner, until he was begging Sam for relief and then Sam was going to see if he could get him to come so hard he passed out. Sam was determined that what he did here tonight only left Callen with good memories.

With that in mind, Sam picked up the second champagne glass. His partner had only had a few sips, so there was enough left for the next part of Sam’s plan to blow Callen’s mind as thoroughly as he did his cock.

Sam took a large mouthful of champagne, then put the glass down again. When he glanced at Callen’s face, he saw that Callen was watching him intently now, the lull in action having gotten his attention.

Sam smirked at him, then lowered his head towards Callen’s cock, keeping his eyes locked on his partner’s for as long as possible. Eventually, he had to look away, as he grasped Callen’s cock firmly with one hand, then carefully slid his mouth over the head, careful not to spill any of the champagne he hadn’t swallowed as he did so.

Callen made a noise that was part surprise, part relief as Sam took in his cock. Sam had already braced an arm over his hips, so that Callen couldn’t move, reinforcing that Sam was the one in control of what was happening.

Sam sucked for several minutes, tasting champagne and precome, while Callen made eager noises above him, trying to thrust up into Sam’s mouth, but unable to do so.

“Please Sam, please,” Callen said, breathlessly.

Sam smiled as he pulled free of Callen’s cock. That was the start of getting his partner to beg, but he had a way to go still.

“Well, champagne-flavored Callen is delicious,” Sam told him conversationally, as he sat back on his heels.

Callen was free to move now and he pulled at the restraints, hips bucking as he searched for relief. “Sam!” he pleaded.

“Mm,” Sam hummed with approval. That was definite progress towards begging, but still not enough. “Time for part two,” he told his partner. “Chocolate-coated Callen.”

He reached for the cake box and flipped it open. There was a large slice of gooey cake, covered in frosting inside. Sam couldn’t resist a grin. This was going to be messy, as well as fun.

Callen was still struggling against the restraints, making Sam glad they used padded cuffs. The way his partner was pulling against them, he would have hurt himself otherwise and that would definitely ruin their fun.

Before he did anything else, Sam leaned forward towards Callen. He tilted his partner’s face towards him and pressed their mouths together in a long, intense kiss. Callen moaned into his mouth, opening to Sam’s tongue, accepting the kiss and the taste of champagne and his own precome.

Sam slowly gentled the kiss and pulled back again. Callen moaned, eyes opening slowly as he blinked at Sam.

“Hey,” Sam said gently, as Callen eventually focused on him.

Callen gave him a slow smile. “You’re enjoying torturing me aren’t you?” he asked wryly.

Sam grinned back at him evilly. “I don’t hear you complaining G,” he pointed out.

“Nooo,” Callen agreed, drawing out the word. “But I hope I am going to come some time soon.”

“You will come,” Sam told him. “But not necessarily soon.”

Callen thumped his head back against his pillow. “Oh god,” he muttered breathlessly.

Sam laughed, but not in a nasty way. He knew exactly how far he could take things with Callen, after all their years together. And Callen was a masochist. He enjoyed being teased and made to wait. Sam was beginning to have some good ideas of what he was going to do to his partner while they were on vacation.

However, he needed to finish things tonight. He was going to draw things out some more, but not for too long. They did have to work tomorrow, so sleep was needed at some point, even for Callen. 

Sam started by scooping some of the cake onto his fingers and then holding his hand to Callen’s lips, rubbing across the bottom one.

Callen immediately took the hint, opening up and allowing Sam to slide his fingers into his mouth. Callen started sucking and licking, humming in approval at the taste of the chocolate cake. Sam’s cock throbbed as he watched, knowing how good it felt to have his partner’s hot mouth sucking him in. That wasn’t his plan right now, though, so once he was satisfied that Callen had licked away all traces of the chocolate cake, he pulled his fingers free reluctantly.

Callen whined, leaning forward to chase Sam’s hand.

“Sh G,” Sam told him.

Callen opened his eyes with an effort, staring at Sam as he waited for what was coming next. Sam scooped out more cake, this time spreading it across Callen’s chest, rubbing it into his nipples, just to see him gasp and squirm.

Piercing Callen was going to be amazing for both of them, but Sam knew it would restrict his activities somewhat until Callen healed, so he was determined to tease and torture the little nubs while he still could.

Bending his head, Sam licked across one pointed nipple, then bit down firmly. That earned him a shout and a thrust upwards, which Sam had anticipated. He made sure Callen couldn’t hurt him as he continued to lavish attention on that side, cleaning up all traces of cake, while occasionally biting or sucking the nipple.

When he was satisfied with his results, Sam licked up the trail of cake across Callen’s chest to the other side. He paused to look up and check on Callen before he went any further. Callen’s head was back, exposing his throat and the marks that Sam had left on his neck earlier. Sam smirked, knowing his partner would be complaining about those tomorrow. Not all of them would be hidden by a shirt collar.

Callen raised his head, clearly wondering why Sam had stopped. Sam quickly schooled his expression and raised an eyebrow at his partner. 

“Everything okay?” Sam asked.

“Apart from you stopping,” Callen complained. 

This time, Sam let him see the smirk, before bending to bite the nipple that was still covered in cake. At the same time, he reached out and pinched the other one firmly.

“Fuck!” Callen exclaimed and Sam heard his head thump back down onto the pillow again.

Again, Sam kept up the torture for several minutes, listening to Callen moan as he writhed under Sam’s attentions. When he was satisfied he had cleaned up all the cake, he reached for the box and scooped out yet more of it.

This time, he decided to go straight for his prize. Callen’s cock was purple and his balls were tight. Sam winced a little, although he wasn’t much better off. The torture had been fun, but he needed to come just as much as his partner did. So he took a firm grip of Callen’s cock with the handful of cake and bent his head to suck in the tip.

Callen groaned loudly and bucked up. Sam had been anticipating the move, so rode it out easily. He continued to work down the length of Callen’s cock, licking and sucking the cake-covered skin, as he went.

Callen was continually making noise and writhing beneath him, as Sam kept going, until he had taken in all of Callen’s cock. Then he swallowed and hummed, hearing Callen’s shout as he rubbed at his hole with the fingers that were still messy with cake.

Sam kept it for several minutes, riding out Callen’s thrusts as he sucked. Finally, he slid one finger into Callen’s ass, stroking his prostate at the same time as he swallowed around his cock again. That was it, Callen yelled wordlessly and Sam was swallowing come, still rubbing over Callen’s prostate, until Callen was spent and limp.

Sam pulled his finger free and rubbed at his mouth as he sat up and surveyed his partner’s body. As he’d hoped, it looked like Callen had passed out from coming so hard. Sam was pleased, but he was desperate to come as well, so he let his partner be, knowing he would come around soon. 

Taking a firm grip on his own cock, Sam stroked himself fast and hard, only needing a short time before he was grunting loudly and coming all over Callen’s stomach and chest. As Sam slumped to the bed, Callen was just stirring awake with a groan.

Sam managed to reach out and open the cuffs, so that Callen could move his arms again, then he collapsed onto his back as he continued to breathe hard in the aftermath of his own intense orgasm.

A hand came to rest on his head and Sam managed to shift enough to see Callen, without dislodging the hand.

“You okay?” Callen asked.

Sam raised an eyebrow. “Fine,” he said. Taking a deep breath, he managed to roll onto his side, Callen’s hand coming to rest on his arm instead. “You?” he asked, still not quite up to speaking properly yet.

Callen gave him a dazzling smile, the sort Sam rarely saw and always treasured. “Very good,” he reassured Sam. “Although in a minute, I’m going to need to clean up. I feel sticky.”

Sam grunted, unimpressed by how lively Callen sounded so soon after coming his brains out. Callen laughed, but didn’t say anything else, running his hand up and down Sam’s arm as they both lay there, still recovering.

Finally Sam decided he needed to move or he’d just fall asleep where he was and so he pushed himself up. Looking up, he saw Callen had his eyes closed, but was still smiling. Sam didn’t think he was asleep though.

“Shower?” Sam asked.

Callen’s eyes opened slowly and he looked at Sam assessingly. “Sure you can make it that far, Big Guy?” he teased.

Sam scowled, knowing he was being baited, but still responded. “Which one of us is the SEAL again?” he asked.

Callen raised his hands. “Just concerned for your wellbeing partner,” he said, mock-sincerely.

“I’m not that much older than you,” Sam told him, sliding off the bed with a groan, then stretching tired muscles.

Callen pressed up behind him as soon as he stopped, one arm coming around Sam’s middle and he kissed Sam’s shoulder. Sam reached back to hold him in turn and they stayed that way for a little while, just enjoying the closeness.

“Come on, hot water will feel better on those aches, old man,” Callen eventually said, pulling back from Sam and sliding to stand beside him.

“I’ll show you old man,” Sam growled.

Callen laughed and dashed for the bathroom, making Sam moan in appreciation at the rear view of his naked partner. He shook his head at Callen’s antics, puzzled at the energy his partner was showing, but enjoying the playfulness. It wasn’t a side to Callen he was used to seeing, but Sam liked it.

The shower was brief, but thorough and before long, they were drying off and heading back to bed. Callen cleared off the nightstand, taking the cake box, champagne bottle and glasses into the kitchen, while Sam did a quick tour through the house, making sure everything was locked up and secure. 

Finally done, they were back in the bedroom and sliding beneath the sheets together. Sam settled on his back while Callen pressed up against his side. They exchanged several kisses, before Sam turned out the light and they drifted off to sleep. 

*

It was later than usual when Callen walked into the mission the next morning. He was alone, which always seemed odd these days, but he’d left Sam at the boatshed with Granger, ready for their second attempt to interrogate Noguchi.

“Look who finally turned up,” Deeks said as Callen walked into the bullpen.

“Well, well, you made it,” Kensi piped up, eyes sweeping up and down as Callen paused in the space between their desks.

Deeks got up and circled his desk to stand in front of Callen. “You and Sam must have had some night,” he said. 

Kensi stood up and reached for his collar. Callen flinched back away from her and she raised her eyebrows at him.

“Definitely a big night,” she agreed with Deeks, pointing to Callen’s neck as she said it.

Callen scowled. He’d been a bit pissed off when he’d seen the huge bruise Sam had left on the side of his neck that morning in the bathroom mirror. It was in such a position that his shirt collar didn’t really hide it and he’d already had a dry comment from Granger about vampires when they’d walked into the boatshed that morning.

“Mr Callen, good morning,” Hetty said from behind him.

Callen turned to her, resisting the temptation to smirk when he saw how the other two jumped at Hetty’s appearance.

“Good morning to you too, Hetty,” he replied in an artificially cheery tone. He also took the opportunity to drop his bag on his desk and take off his jacket.

“Were you and Mr Hanna able to assist the Assistant Director with his interrogation strategy?” Hetty asked him, as he took out his laptop.

“We were,” Callen told her. “Noguchi’s lawyer turned up as I was leaving and the man himself was en route from lock up.”

“Very good,” Hetty said placidly. “I have several matters I need to discuss with you, if you don’t mind,” she added. “And Mr Deeks and Ms Blye have expense reports they need to complete if they hope to get paid next week.”

They both looked guilty and Deeks hurried back to his desk.

“Now is fine,” Callen told her. 

She smiled at him. “I have a new blend of tea from India that I believe you will enjoy.” She indicated to her office space and Callen smiled back as he followed her.

Callen settled in the wicker chair in front of Hetty’s desk, while she rounded it and poured tea for them both.

“So what sort of blend is it?” Callen asked, as he accepted a cup from Hetty.

“Rather spicy,” she told him, as she settled in her chair. “And something of a bite in the after-taste. You may need to sweeten it.”

Callen sniffed his cup before cautiously taking a small sip. He tasted it the same way his partner would taste champagne, before finally swallowing. After a minute, he grimaced.

“Definitely needs a little something to sweeten it up,” he told Hetty, as he put the cup and saucer down.

Hetty passed him her sugar bowl. “I know you’re allergic to my syrup, so I’m afraid this will have to do,” she told him.

Callen dropped a couple of lumps of sugar into the cup, stirring it while he waited for Hetty to tell him what was on her mind.

“You spoke with Owen yesterday,” she opened by saying.

Callen noted the use of the Assistant Director’s first name. “I did,” he agreed.

“Was it productive?” Hetty asked.

“He didn’t tell you?” Callen countered by asking.

Hetty shook her head at him. “The Assistant Director doesn’t report to me,” she told Callen.

“But Owen is your friend,” Callen said, deliberately making the distinction between the man and the role.

“He is, after a fashion,” Hetty agreed. “Nonetheless, he didn’t break any confidences by telling me what you discussed.”

Callen took another sip of his tea and this time, it tasted much better. “It was helpful,” he finally said.

“Very good,” Hetty said. “Now, I’ve had a vacation request from Mr Hanna for the two of you, for next week.”

“Is that a problem?” Callen asked.

Hetty shook her head. “No, I’ve already sent Mr Hanna my approval,” she replied. 

“And Kensi and Deeks?” Callen asked. 

“There is a multi agency tactical training course being held at Quantico next week that they would benefit from attending together,” Hetty said.

Callen raised his eyebrows at that, but didn’t question Hetty’s judgement. “Thank you,” was all he said, as he raised his cup to finish his tea. “I should get to my reports, if there’s nothing else?” he asked.

“No, that is all,” Hetty told him. “I would appreciate it if you could catch up on as much paperwork as possible before you leave today, then you can start your vacation tomorrow.”

Callen stood up. “I’ll get on it,” he agreed. “And I would tell your friend to ease back on the licorice in the tea,” he added.

“Thank you Mr Callen, I will pass that along,” Hetty said with a smile.

Callen nodded and headed back to his desk. He wasn’t looking forward to a day of paperwork, but the prospect of time off with Sam made it more bearable.

* 

A while later, as the team had their heads down working, Hetty appeared in the bullpen.

“Ms Blye, Mr Deeks, I have news for you,” she said, causing their heads to come up.

Callen looked up as well, guessing what was coming.

“What is it Hetty?” Kensi asked.

“I have arranged for the two of you to attend a multi agency tactical training course in Quantico next week,” Hetty told them.

“Us? Why?” Kensi asked.

“And what about Callen and Sam?” Deeks added.

“Actually Sam and I have already completed the course,” Callen interjected before Hetty could say any more.

“In fact, last year, they taught the course,” Hetty added, which was not something Callen had planned to tell the others.

Kensi swiveled her chair to look at him. Callen raised his hands in a placatory way.

“The two of you taught a tactical course at Quantico?” Deeks asked. “When was that?”

“When you and Kensi were on vacation actually, Mr Deeks,” Hetty told him.

Both he and Kensi got wide eyed at that. “You said you stayed with family,” Kensi said. 

“You lied to us?” Deeks asked.

Callen shifted in his chair. “It wasn’t a lie actually,” he said. “We did stay with family, we just didn’t specify what family or where.”

“So who was it?” Kensi asked.

“I don’t believe that is actually any of your business Ms. Blye,” Hetty stepped in again. “Now, I have arranged transportation to Virginia for you both. You leave tomorrow, so please make sure all of your reports and paperwork is completed before you go.”

That made both Kensi and Deeks frown. Callen knew they still had a lot of reports to finish, he had to sign off on everything they completed before it went on to Hetty for approval. They were in for a late night, which meant he would be stuck here as well.

Eric appeared behind Hetty just then. “Uh, sorry to interrupt, Hetty,” he said nervously. “But the discs are here.” He held out a pile of DVDs in plastic cases.

“I’ll take those,” Callen said, holding out a hand.

“Transcripts are my job,” Kensi objected.

Eric paused in front of Callen’s desk, looking between him and Kensi. Callen made a “gimme” gesture, so Eric looked to Hetty for direction.

“Kens, you still have reports to finish,” Callen told her. “Mine are done, so it makes more sense for me to start on the transcripts.”

She frowned, but said nothing. Callen was aware of Deeks watching from opposite, while Hetty waited and said nothing either.

“Okay then, here you go,” Eric said, giving the discs to Callen. “I’ll be back up in Ops if you need me.” He practically ran as he headed back up the stairs to his own work domain.

Callen shut his laptop and stood up. “I’ll take these to a work station where it’s quieter,” he said.

“Very well, carry on then everyone,” Hetty told them and she turned back towards her office space.

Kensi still didn’t say anything, so Callen headed round the corner to where there were a couple of computers set up. He checked his phone as he went, hoping for something from Sam. He wasn’t surprised to see no message, guessing his partner was still busy with the interrogation. He just hoped it wasn’t too long before Granger decided they could have a break. Maybe then Callen could get away to have a quick lunch with Sam. It would make the day a bit easier to deal with if they had a chance to spend even half an hour together.

*

Eric was busy with some coding when his earpiece signaled an incoming call. He clicked it on. “Beale,” he responded.

“Eric, where’s my partner?” Sam’s urgent tone surprised Eric.

“Sam?” he asked, somewhat stupidly he realized. “As far as I know, he’s downstairs working.”

“Then why isn’t he answering my calls?” Sam demanded.

Eric shook his head, safe in the knowledge Sam couldn’t see him. Nell was looking at him with raised eyebrows.

“He was doing transcripts earlier,” Eric told Sam.

“That’s Kensi's job,” Sam said impatiently, which Eric knew.

“Something to do with her needing to finish reports when Callen was done with his,” Eric replied, wondering why he had to be the one doing this.

“Can you get him to call me?” Sam asked.

“Sure Sam,” Eric agreed, desperate to get him off the phone, so he could get back to work.

Sam didn’t reply, leaving Eric with a dead line. He sighed as he clicked off his headset.

“What was all that about?” Nell asked, though Eric was fairly sure she already knew, just from hearing his side of the conversation.

“Sam gets antsy whenever he can’t get hold of his partner,” Eric told her, as he brought up a new program on his computer. He wasn’t going to risk going downstairs to disturb Callen, instead, he quickly coded an alert that he could send to Callen’s computer, which would interrupt whatever he was doing.

Nell watched amused, as he finished his coding and sent it to Callen’s workstation. “That’ll get his attention alright,” she observed.

Eric gave a shrug. “He can take it up with Sam,” he said, hoping that Callen did that and didn’t take his wrath out on Eric instead, because he was closer. 

*

Callen was engrossed in transcribing the abbreviated interrogation with Noguchi from the day before when Eric’s message flashed up on his screen, startling him out of his concentration. It was large red capitals surrounded by exclamation marks saying “Call your partner!”

“Eric!” Callen growled, as he wrenched his headphones off and flung them on the desk. He frowned as he reached for his cellphone, which was on the desk next to the pile of discs he’d be working on.

Picking it up, Callen was surprised to find four missed calls from Sam showing up. He’d put the phone on to vibrate when he’d started transcribing, but he still should have been aware of it buzzing.

Unlocking the phone, Callen got up and stretched, having been stuck in the same position for longer than he’d realized, as he’d gotten into a groove with his work. He decided to go outside before calling his partner, getting some fresh air as well as privacy for the call. 

Leaning against a wall in the courtyard, Callen hit the speed dial for Sam’s phone.

“G,” Sam answered on the first ring, not surprisingly.

“Sam, what’s up?” Callen asked easily, deliberately keeping it casual.

“Did you turn your phone off?” Sam asked, sounding unhappy.

“Noooo,” Callen said, deliberately drawing out the single word. “I was working on transcripts, so I didn’t hear it.”

“Four times?” Sam asked and Callen could hear he didn’t quite believe what Callen was telling him.

Callen shrugged even though Sam couldn’t see him. “Guess the volume was set lower than I realized,” he replied. “Are you done yet?”

“More or less,” Sam told him, accepting the change of subject. “Granger is finalizing the details with the attorney and we’re waiting for prisoner transport to come back and collect him. That might take a while,” he added.

“Sounds good,” Callen said, feeling relief at the fact that the case was more or less done.

“Have you had lunch?” Sam asked.

“Not yet,” Callen told him, checking his watch and surprised to see how late it was. 

No one had disturbed him, so he didn’t know what was going on with Kensi and Deeks. Usually, the team had lunch together on days like today, when they weren’t actively working a case. 

“Can you get away?” Sam asked. “I’m stuck here for now, but I thought we could eat together.”

“As soon as I finish this last transcript,” Callen replied. “Maybe a half hour,” he told Sam.

“Bring sandwiches,” Sam ordered. “And call when you’re on the way.”

Callen snorted. “Yes mom,” he replied lightly.

“Not your mom,” Sam replied in a lower voice. “But you do take my orders.”

Callen shivered a little despite the warmth of the day, at the images that conjured up. He ignored it though.

“What about Granger, am I bringing him lunch too?” he asked instead.

“The assistant director can fend for himself,’ Sam responded. “He’s done here as soon as the deal is signed.” 

“Alright, I better get back to it then,” Callen said. “Or we’ll never be done and I really want our vacation to start.” This time Callen was the one lowering his voice to adopt a more intimate tone.

“Remember to call me when you leave,” Sam said and the call ended abruptly, leaving Callen grinning to himself a little.

Pushing up off the wall, Callen headed back inside, more than ready to be done and on his way to see his partner.

As he went back inside, Callen was fiddling with his phone, checking the volume on the ringer. The only person who could have changed it was Sam, so he decided to change the passcode as well, just in case.

As he had his head down, he didn’t see Hetty, her voice startling him in to looking up.

“Mr Callen,” she said and he stopped just before he would have bumped into her.

“Hetty! Sorry I didn’t see you,” he apologized.

“I could see that,” she agreed. “Your partner?” she added, looking at where he was twirling his phone.

Callen nodded. “He says they’re done.”

“Yes, I just had a call from the Assistant Director informing me of the same thing,” Hetty told him. “Where are you with the transcripts?”

“Just finishing up the last one,” Callen replied. “If you don’t count today’s that is.”

“In this instance, I won’t,” Hetty said. “I believe Miss Jones would benefit from the experience of transcribing an interrogation. Therefore once you have finished your current work, you are free to go join your partner and start your vacation.”

Callen was surprised at that. “What about the rest of the reports that need reviewing?” he asked.

“I will do that,” Hetty replied. “And I have arranged for other agents to wait at the boatshed for prisoner transport, so once Mr Hanna completes his report on today’s events, he will be free as well.”

“Thank you Hetty,” Callen told her, surprised and pleased at the offer.

She waved a hand in the air. “Think nothing of it Mr Callen, you have both earned the time off. Now run along and finish that transcript. The sooner you’re done, the sooner you can go.”

Callen grinned. “Yes ma’am,” he said lightly, turning to head back to his temporary desk in the annex. As he went, he quickly sent Sam a text with the good news. 

*

In the end, it was less than half an hour before Callen was finishing the transcript. He quickly ran it through the spell checker and made sure there were no glaring errors in his typing. He tended to type without breaks and then go back and look for mistakes at the end, finding it easier to work that way.

Satisfied, he quickly emailed the document to Hetty with the relevant form, then shut down the computer. He’d had a reply from Sam to say the other agents Hetty had arranged for had arrived, so they were free as soon as Callen got there. 

“Shall I bring lunch?” Callen texted back.

“Meet at Swingers,” was Sam’s reply a few seconds later.

Callen grinned to himself. It was his favorite diner near the boatshed and Sam knew that. 

“Leaving now,” was all he sent back, as he headed to his desk to pack up.

Once in the bullpen, he found it was empty, with no sign of Kensi or Deeks. Done with putting away his laptop, Callen looked around to Hetty’s desk. She wasn’t in sight either. He quickly wrote a note on a post-it and stuck it on the top of the pile of discs, which he left on Hetty’s desk.

Having called an Uber to pick him up a few streets away, Callen shouldered his bag and headed out the door. He was leaving his car in the parking garage at the mission for the duration of their vacation. 

*

It was a fairly quick journey to the diner where he was meeting Sam and fortunately, the driver wasn’t the chatty type, so Callen kept his head down, concentrating on his phone. 

When they arrived, Callen handed over cash, while he looked around for Sam’s Challenger. He quickly spotted it parked alongside the street and his partner leaning against the trunk. Callen couldn’t help the smile when he saw Sam waiting. He crossed the street as Sam opened the trunk and reached for Callen’s duffle.

As the bag was dropped inside, Callen couldn’t resist leaning forward for a kiss. He wasn’t normally one for PDA’s, but he’d missed his partner in the office today.

Sam grinned at him as he pulled back. “Good afternoon to you too,” he said, pushing his trunk closed.

“It is now,” Callen told him.

Sam smirked at the admission. “Let’s eat,” he said. “And then we get this vacation properly started.”

“Sounds good to me,” Callen agreed, heading for the door. 

Sam fell in to step alongside him, one hand on Callen’s back as he steered them around a group of giggling teenagers. Callen felt himself relax at the touch and the rest of the world vanished as he settled into his partner’s company. He was looking forward to whatever happened during the next week and being the sole focus of Sam’s attention while they were away.


End file.
